Ghosts of War
by jiStraightRazor
Summary: Post X3. a war is brewing, but from where? well thought out OC. Full Story summary and character profiles inside. main plot is up and running now,its quite a page turner. Read and Review please, i will return the favor if you have a story to read
1. Full summary and Character Profile

After the war with the humans has ended, things seem to be going just fine for the X-Men. When a powerful new mutant surfaces to join the team, life at the mansion becomes more unusual by the day. Will this new ally end up being good or evil? The psychics at the school start having dark, foreboding dreams; could this new mutant be the cause? Or is someone else behind the war slowly brewing behind the veil of peace? Full OC profile listed below.

Name: Matthew Tyson

Codename: "Geist"

Sex: Male

Nationality: American

Ethnicity: Southern Caucasian

Height: 5'9"

Weight: 160 lbs

Hair Color: Black, Spiked

Eye Color: Blue, Reflective White when exposed to any light

Body type: Swimmer's Build

Mutant Class: 4

Special Physical Attributes: Abnormal night vision but weakness to UV Light (See Powers)

Powers: Advanced Telekinesis and Invisibility/Intangibility (Only at the same time). He has learned to use telekinesis to manipulate the air creating disembodied voices, as well as using TK to lower temperature and up humidity, allowing the creation of fog. His eyes are a blessing and a weakness, allowing him to see perfectly in the dark, yet direct UV exposure on his eyes will temporarily blind and weaken him.

History: A fan of scare tactics, Matthew studied every book on physics and dynamics he could get his hands on in the 3 years following the accident that claimed his immediate family, and concentrated on honing his powers to the skills he wanted. His close friend, Jerry (A mutant with no manifested powers as of yet) helped him cope and adjust with the loss of his family, though Jerry's exact location is unknown at the time. Matthew lost everything he knew at an early age, and quickly learned how to disguise his true feelings constantly. His mask only cracks when questioned about his past.

Name: Jerry Murdock

Codename: "Revelation"

Sex: Male

Nationality: American

Ethnicity: Southern Caucasian

Height: 5'11"

Weight: 185 lbs

Hair Color: Blonde, Buzzed Short

Eye Color: Green

Body Type: Swimmer's Build

Mutant Class: 3

Special Physical Attributes: Natural Birthmarks on his back resembling Mayan Prophecy Hieroglyphics

Powers: Telepathic ability and future sight. With concentration he can see the future as it will be if the current flow of events remains the same. The edges of his vision are a constantly informing him of where the future will lead him and those around him. The distance he can see into the future is unknown.

History: Jerry lived next door to Matthew for as long as he could remember. When Matthew's family was claimed by the explosion at their house, Jerry helped Matthew cope and to escape the ridicule of their society. When his family moved to Virginia two years after the accident, the stress of having to leave his friend caused his powers to manifest. He hides them from his parents for fear of what they will do, but occasionally keeps in contact with Matthew via telepathic link.


	2. Origins of a Ghost

Disclaimer: X-Men is a trademark of Marvel Comics. I do not claim to own any of the characters or settings used below. However, the original characters Jerry, Andrew and Sheila Tyson, and Matthew Tyson a.k.a. "Geist" belong to me.

Chapter One: Origins of a Ghost

1991

Andrew and Shelia Tyson scrambled into their mini-van just mere minutes after Shelia's water broke. She was screaming quite loudly as he peeled out of their garage and down the road towards the nearby hospital. In the stress of the situation, neither of them seemed to notice that the inside of the van was cooler than it should be on that muggy summer afternoon in Georgia. It was by sheer luck that they arrived at the hospital without being pulled over, because Andrew was plowing along at over twice the legal speed limit. The tires squealed as he hit the brakes, cut the ignition, and ran inside for someone with a stretcher.

Inside the delivery room, Andrew stood over his wife as she went into labor. He was so concentrated on keeping his wife comfortable that he wasn't paying attention that the cold field from inside the van had followed them into the delivery room. It wasn't until his breath began to fog that he began to wonder why it was so cold in the room.

"Hey doc, I can see my breath. Did one of the nurses turn up the ac?"

The doctor shivered slightly and replied, "I don't think so; one of them would have told me if they did. But I see what you mean; it is quite cold in here. Nurse, will you get Mr. Tyson's wife a blanket?"

The nurse draped Shelia with a blanket as she struggled through her labor. Several hours later, Shelia gave birth to a baby boy. The child didn't shiver, despite the fact that everyone else in the room was. Once he was cleaned up, the doctors handed him back to his mother.

"Matthew…my baby Matthew," Shelia cooed. Baby Matthew cooed in return and the room seemed to instantly warm. Andrew raised an eyebrow as the fog emitting from his mouth with every breath suddenly was no longer visible. He didn't give it another thought and joined his wife at her side to admire his newborn son.

1997

Andrew watched from the window as Matthew played baseball with his friend Jerry. "Shelia, I don't know what you were so worried about. He is having so much fun."

"Well you know how he gets when he is under any kind of stress. I don't want him to scare Jerry," replied Shelia.

"Matt knows what he is doing. I like to think he has just a little bit of control over his…abilities," said Andrew.

"Andrew, he's six! No six year old I've ever known has much control over their emotions. And he has been acting so strange lately. Things shake when he gets angry. I think it could be more of his abilities manifesting themselves."

"I think you could be right. But still, it doesn't happen _every_ time he gets angry, that could be a sign of some control."

"Maybe, but I'm still worried about him. Keep an eye on him for me will you? I'm going to go relax in the tub," said Shelia. She walked up the stairs and out of sight. Andrew sat down on the couch and turned on the television. _I'm not worried about him, she shouldn't be either. I'll check on him in a little while_, he thought.

Outside, Matthew was up at bat. Jerry tossed the ball towards him and the world seemed to slow down as he concentrated on the ball coming towards him. The wind blew through his spiky black hair, tousled his jeans and t-shirt, but didn't break his concentration. The ball seemed to move in front of the bat as he swung and connected perfectly with the ball. The ball sailed over Jerry's head and right into the neighbor's yard. Matthew sighed. "I'll get it," he said.

"Hurry up!" shouted Jerry as Matt ran towards the neighbor's yard and climbed over the fence surrounding the perimeter. Matthew ran over to the ball and picked it up and as he did he heard growling from behind him. Diablo, the neighbor's Doberman had just been woken up. Matthew ran for his life but the dog was hot on his heels and gaining. As he was reaching the fence he threw the ball over and started to climb. Just as the dog jumped for him Matthew felt himself slipping and fell to the ground. Much to his surprise it was on the other side of the fence; Diablo was raising hell on the other side trying to figure out how to get to the boy. Jerry had witnessed all of this and ran to Matthew's front door, pounding and shouting.

"Mr. Tyson! Matt just fell _through_ the fence!"

Andrew, thinking his son somehow knocked the big wooden fence over, walked outside only to find the fence intact and his son laying there, crying in shock. He ran over to Matthew, Jerry in tow, and noticed the temperature drop as he got close. His son was obviously very upset. Walking closer, Andrew noticed something else unusual about the situation. He tried to look at his son, but found himself having difficulty. He thought maybe it was just him at first until Jerry asked, "What's wrong with him?"

"I-I'm not sure, Jerry," replied Andrew. Matthew was lying there, crying, and Andrew was in such shock by what he was seeing that he couldn't do anything for a moment. His son looked like he was disappearing; fading in and out of existence. He could actually see right through him. Andrew regained his composure and bent down to pick Matthew up. His hands slid right through him. _Well that explains how he fell through the fence,_ Andrew thought.

"Matt, buddy, can you get up?" Andrew said.

"I think so," replied Matthew in between sobs. The temperature began to rise again but he still remained slightly transparent. Somehow he still was solid enough to walk back inside and sit down to explain everything. As he talked, he became more and more visible, until Andrew was quite confident his son was going to be ok.

2003

New York Times July 26, 2003

The small town of Whitehead, Georgia was rocked today by an explosion caused by ruptured propane tanks behind one of the houses in a small neighborhood just outside of town. The tanks were believed to have been ruptured by a rogue ember from a neighboring barbeque. The house was completely demolished in the explosion; the family is presumed dead. Neighbors are being treated for burns and glass wounds. The fire department is sifting through the rubble for signs of survivors. The burnt bodies of a man and a woman have been found, but the neighbors report that a son lived in the home as well. The boy has yet to be found.

Present Day

The computers in the basement of the mansion were going ape shit as Ororo walked in and flipped off the alarm. _It seems the new cerebro program Kitty designed is working just fine_, she thought. Logan walked in behind her and stared, confused as to what was going on.

"What's with the alarms?" he asked.

"Kitty's program is picking up high levels of mutant activity. I'm tracking the signal now. It seems its coming from there, just outside of Whitehead, Georgia. I'm going to go check it out. Want to come along?"

Logan sighed. "Sure."

"Be at the jet in ten minutes."

Logan and Ororo parted ways and prepared for the trip. Logan ran to his room and grabbed some cooler clothes. With it being summer, Georgia would be quite hot. He grabbed a beer out of his private mini-fridge and ran back downstairs towards the jet. It was prepped and running as he jogged up the ramp and strapped himself into the co-pilot's seat. Ororo hit the jet's thrusters and rose up out of the basketball court. And with that, they were on their way.

About an hour later, Logan checked the GPS. "I think we are getting close," he said. Ororo hit a button and a little screen came up in front of her.

"The place we are looking for is about ten miles away; we should be there in a minute or so. Beginning approach." She slowed the jet and began to descend. Logan looked outside and saw nothing but trees around. _Christ whoever this is, they're in the middle of nowhere, _Logan thought.

The jet touched down in a clearing, nothing but forest for miles around. In front of them sat an old southern plantation house, shrouded in fog. Ororo could tell it had been a jewel once, yet now it was abandoned and rotting. Ororo opened the hatch as both of them got up out of the seats of the jet. Before they could even make it down the ramp the cold and fog hit them in the face. Logan shot a glance at Ororo, she shook her head. This wasn't her doing. The sun wasn't even down yet; sure it was setting, but it should be at least 80 degrees outside. Logan didn't know much about the south, but common sense told him that it was a bit early for fog too. They walked down the ramp and through the fog up to the house.

"Are you sure our guy is here? This place looks like it hasn't housed anyone for years," said Logan.

"Unless Kitty's program is wrong, and you know how she is with computers. She is the best we have."

Logan pushed the door open; the heavy oak creaked slowly inward. The penetrating fog had somehow found its way inside, Logan noticed, as he turned on his flashlight. As they crossed the threshold into the house, things went straight to hell. The fog stirred itself as a wind that seemed to come from nowhere filled the room. The heavy door that taken a good bit of Logan's strength to push open slammed closed as if it were made of plywood. Whispers echoed around both of them, what was being said though neither of them could make out. One distinct whisper came from behind Logan.

"_You're in my world now…"_

Logan spun around, only to be met with more of that meddlesome fog. Laughter, loud laughter, echoed around the mansion's foyer where the two of them stood. Ororo ventured forward, clearing the fog a bit as she went; only to have more of it appear behind her. There was a chair suspended in mid-air, and it was spinning like a top. The presence seemed to sense the slight pang of fear and emitted more of the loud, evil sounding laughter.

"SHOW YOURSELF!" Logan shouted at the nothingness, only to have the laughter echo his own statement back to him in an almost mocking fashion. His heightened senses picked up motion in the corner of his eye but when he turned to look there seemed to be nothing there—at first. A second glance granted the visual of two glowing silver specs, like cats eyes caught in car headlights. Logan popped his claws, and the laughter stopped. Apparently it wasn't funny anymore. The specs became the corneas of a boy, a boy with spiky black hair standing against a wall in the now clearing fog.

"Easy man, I was just kidding around. No need to get hostile on me. Scare tactics are a hobby of mine, and I knew y'all were comin. I'm Matthew Tyson." His eyes flashed as he shook Logan's hand. "Call me Geist."

Logan squeezed Matthew's hand. "I'm Logan."

"Nice to meet you Matthew, I'm Ororo. How did you do all that?" asked Ororo.

"My powers. I'm kind of talented."

"How did you create the whispers and laughter?" asked Logan.

"I used telekinesis. I vibrated the air around y'all at just the right frequency to create the right pitches and dynamics for the voices. Then I manipulated the sound to form the words you heard. Cool, huh?"

"Kid, you can't be older than fifteen. How do you so much about dynamics?"

"School. Well, not exactly school, I just read a lot. I have been working on developing my powers since my parents were killed in an explosion that destroyed our house. The news said it was an accident, but I don't believe it. I'm going to find the person who did it."

"Well if you would like, we can help you with that. I am the headmistress at the Charles Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters; or as the media have come to call it, 'Mutant Academy.' I'm sure the other students would love to meet you," said Ororo.

"I have heard about it. Pretty much everyone has after the events a few months back. I've actually wanted to attend, but I could never afford to travel up there."

Logan seemed to not be paying any attention to the conversation; he was only staring at Matthew's eyes. He decided that moment to interject in the conversation. "What's the story on those eyes?"

"They reflect light, making them look like they glow. I have blue eyes naturally. What sucks though, I can't see in the sunlight. The light reflection usually helps me see in the dark, but UV light burns my eyes and blinds me. Sunglasses usually help since they filter the UV rays out."

Ororo picked up where she left off. "Let's get you out of here. Wouldn't you rather be with people who understand what you're going through?."

"Sure why not," replied Matthew, "It beats the hell out of sitting around here."

"Great. The jet is just outside."

"You have a _jet?_" said Matthew as he held up his hand and a pair of sunglasses flew to his hand as he walked outside behind Logan and Ororo.


	3. The Arrival

Disclaimer: X-Men is a trademark of Marvel Comics. I do not claim to own any of the characters or settings used below. However, the original characters Jerry, Andrew and Sheila Tyson, and Matthew Tyson a.k.a. "Geist" belong to me.

Chapter Two: The Arrival

The sun was setting at the mansion just after the jet took off. Kitty watched from her window as Ororo and Logan sped out of sight. _I just don't understand why we can't go too,_ she said quietly to herself. She sighed as she walked away from the window, pulling off her shirt and pants from the day and changing into a pair of cheerleading shorts and a pajama shirt. It was just after eight, but it had been a hell of a long day and she just didn't care to try anymore as she pulled back her long brown hair. She hadn't cut it since the incident, and liked how it turned out. Rogue had helped put some highlights in it, so now a twinge of pink here and there would show itself as her hair moved about. However, she decided to go with a similar bold highlight effect to Rogue's and did the front bit of her bangs solid pink. She thought it looked cute, as did the guys. She got compliments on it a lot and enjoyed the attention.

Kitty glanced at her bedside clock, it read 8:15. She contemplated going down the hall to Rogue's room, but decided against it. Rogue and Bobby had been practically inseparable since she came back, and without her powers anymore a lot of the physical tension between the two of them had been let loose. She had even heard their neighbors mentioning losing sleep over the two of them being so loud. Kitty decided instead to go downstairs and watch a bit of television. Summer TV always blew, but she knew there was at least going to be a decent re-run of "Family Guy" or "South Park" on.

She must have lost herself in the pale glow of the television because before she knew it she heard the low rumble of the jet's engines and the scraping of concrete as the basketball court retracted itself to allow the jet to land. She looked at the digital clock on the cable box, it was almost eleven. Kicking herself for allowing a loss of a track of time like that, she peeled herself off of the extremely comfortable couch and phased down to the lower levels of the mansion. She shivered as her bare feet hit the cold metal of the subterranean floor. She found herself wishing she had worn shoes as her feet made dull slapping noises as she walked along the empty corridor towards where the jet would be parked. She got within fifteen feet of the doors as they opened to reveal a much more tired Ororo and Logan, but there was someone else with them too. A boy about her age, five foot nine in height, with spiky black hair and a pair of sunglasses perched on top of his head. He wore faded blue jeans, sandals, and a tighter than normal black t-shirt, showing off a very cut and lean body. The things that caught her attention the most though were his eyes. They gleamed like cats eyes in headlights, and she found herself smiling and lost in her own head as the three of them walked up to her.

"Well it's always nice to have a welcoming party, no matter how small," said Ororo, "Kitty, this is Matthew. I think you are going to find him most interesting."

"Nice to meet you Kitty," Matthew said as he softly shook her hand and a strand of her hair that was beginning to fall into her face seemingly pushed itself back behind her ear and instead of letting go of her hand allowed himself to pass right through her hand.

"Nice to meet you too," she replied, and as he showed off a bit of his powers, "I think I'm going to enjoy having you around."

Logan chose this moment to chime in. "Okay kids, get in bed. I don't know why you're up this late anyways. Lights out was an hour ago, you know that. It's for the best though now I guess, because you get to show Matthew to his room Kitty."

Kitty sighed and turned to walk away, with Matthew following a pace or so behind her. He took longer strides for a moment to catch up to her, and then slowed to match her pace. "So, where am I staying? Do I get a room to myself or do I have a room mate?"

"I'm pretty sure Bobby needs a roomie, you will like him. He is such a great guy," she replied with a smile.

"Are y'all dating?"

"No, although it seemed like we were going to for a little while. He and Rogue are too involved now."

"Rogue? That's a strange name for a girl—it is a girl, right?" Matthew asked.

Kitty laughed. "Her real name is Marie, but everyone calls her Rogue."

They both phased through the elevator doors as they reached the lift that would take them back to the public face of the school. Kitty hit the button for the ground floor and they began to rise. "Well, well, it seems I'm not the only one with talent around here," said Matthew.

"You haven't seen anything yet. Some of the kids here will about scare you."

"Scare tactics are my thing, sweetheart. Not much scares me."

"We will see about that," she said as the elevator doors opened and she turned around to face Matthew. He wasn't there, however. Goosebumps appeared all over her bare arms and legs and her breath fogged over. She felt something push her and she stumbled forward, right into Matthew's arms. She looked up at him, smiled, and blushed a little bit. She stood up and mentally shook herself off. _I can't let myself get too carried away now,_ she thought,_ but wow._ "Your room is just down this way," she said, and they walked down to Bobby's room. Before they could even get close, Kitty's ear picked up a sound she knew well by now, a soft sound of passion that she knew meant Bobby and Rogue were having a good time.

"On second thought, maybe you should stay with me tonight. Bobby sounds like he doesn't want to be disturbed."

This time it was Matthew's turn to blush. "I hope you have a sleeping bag, because it might look bad if anyone came in your room in the morning."

Kitty smiled and replied, "Yeah, there is one in my closet. I can never reach it, but I'm pretty sure you can."

They turned around and walked back to Kitty's room in a sort of sleepy silence. She unlocked her door and allowed him to walk in first. "It's not much, but it's my home."

"I like it," said Matthew, turning to the closet and allowing the sleeping bag to drift to the floor and unroll itself, "maybe not the last time I'll see it?"

Kitty blushed a bit stronger now, and replied, "We will have to just see on that," and as Matthew peeled off his shirt to get ready for bed she added, "it's a possibility."

The door closed, the light went out, and they went to sleep, with not another word said.

The sun was streaming through the windows as Matthew's head popped off of his pillow and everything went white. He had forgotten where he was for a moment. He shut his eyes and raised his hand and brought his sunglasses to him. As he slid them on, the world came back into focus. The sunrise was beautiful up here, with the sunlight shining through the leaves of the surrounding forest, and a light breeze blowing the trees around. Matthew then turned to Kitty, who was all curled up underneath her covers, breathing softly. He found himself thinking how beautiful she looked and how lucky he was to have met her. Before he knew it Kitty stirred just a little bit and he shook himself out of it. He walked over to the window and stared out at the countryside until he heard her voice from behind him.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?"

He turned and smiled. "Yeah it is. And here I thought the mornings in Georgia were amazing. I think I'm going to like it here."

"Well that's good. Let's go get some breakfast, shall we?"

"Sounds like a plan. Lead the way; I don't know my way around this place at all just yet."

Matthew and Kitty slid on shoes, then Kitty phased right through the floor. Matthew followed suit and found himself standing beside Kitty on the ground floor in a hallway very similar to the one outside of Kitty's room. He looked around, confused, before getting his bearings and following Kitty into the kitchen. She walked over to and opened the pantry door to show off to Matthew the food he had to choose from. A box of cereal floated from behind her and landed on the table in front of where Matthew was going to sit. Kitty chose a bagel, and waked over to the toaster and slid the handle down.

"Where are the bowls?" Matthew asked.

"They're right here," replied Kitty, opening the drawer beside the pantry. A bowl and a plate floated down and landed on the table. The fridge opened and the milk brought itself to Matthew. "Honestly Matt, is it really that much effort to pick things up?"

"No it's not, I just like doing it. I'll try not to show off too much from now on if it will help."

Matthew poured himself some cereal and milk, slid off his sunglasses and was just beginning to eat when Kitty's bagel finished toasting and she took a seat beside Matthew. They were quiet for a while as they ate, and then Matthew heard footsteps coming down the stairs in the hall just outside of the kitchen. A young man who looked maybe two years older then him walked into the room. Despite it being so early, he was almost completely dressed in a pair of jeans and a brown graphic t-shirt. His short brown hair was spiked similar to Matthew's and he walked like a guy who had had a very nice night.

"Morning Kitty," he said, "who's your friend?"

"Bobby, this is Matthew. He is going to be rooming with you. Storm and Logan picked him up from down south last night."

"Nice to meet you Bobby," said Matthew, flashing his eyes, "Call me Geist."

"Likewise to you Matthew, call me Iceman."

"Ah, Iceman…you were the guy who put out the fire at one of the cure clinics earlier this year. I remember seeing that on the news. I didn't know you were so young though."

"Yeah that was me. So what's your story? What do you do?"

Matthew smirked and the temperature in the room seemed to drop a bit. Kitty stopped munching on her bagel to watch. Voices from nowhere filled the room and Bobby and Kitty looked around confused. Matthew faded out of existence as the temperature continued to drop and things began to vibrate and shake. The voices got louder and their breath fogged, but Matthew was still no where to be found. Suddenly Bobby felt movement behind him and there was Matthew, still with the same smirk that was on his face before he disappeared.

"Ok, so you have talents; very nice. You're like a ghost or something."

"That pretty much covers it. Telekinesis, intangibility and invisibility, though I can only phase when I'm invisible."

"That could be useful to us."

"What do you mean by 'us'?"

"The X-men; Kitty and I are part of the team now."

"You aren't the only new members, my friends," said a deep sounding voice from the doorway.

"Pete! You're back!" shouted Kitty, running into the young man's heavily muscled arms. He was easily six foot two, built like a body builder, and from the way his face looked, Russian. He was in a pair of gym shorts and a sleeveless muscle shirt. Kitty turned around, still in his arms, and introduced him to Matthew.

"Matthew, this is Piotr Rasputin, Colossus. Everyone calls him Pete though. He's my boyfriend."

Matthew was taken a bit aback. _She has a boyfriend? Well this is an interesting turn of events. I can deal with this though._ He regained his composure and shook Pete's hand.

"Nice to meet you man," said Matthew, letting his southern accent come out a bit.

"So this is your first day in the mansion?" Pete asked.

"Yeah it is. To tell you the truth I think I'm going to like it here."

"So you're my new room mate? Where are your things?" asked Bobby.

"Oh, they're in Kitty's room. I had to stay in there last night because you were…busy when I showed up at the mansion."

Pete looked up from talking quietly to Kitty for a moment with a strange look on his face then went back to talking to her. He gave her a quick kiss then left the room. Kitty walked back over to where Matthew and Bobby were with an apologetic look on her face. "Guys, I'm going to go lay in the sun for a while. You two take some time to get to know one another," Kitty said, and as she walked by Matthew she whispered, "I'll talk to you later, ok?" and she left for the back of the mansion to lie in the sun that was already beginning to make things quite warm outside. Bobby then turned to Matthew.

"We can get to know one another a bit later. Marie will be waking up in a little while. You should take a look around the grounds, familiarize yourself with them. See if you can't meet some more people. I know it's early, but there are bound to be some people up. And if not, then just enjoy the scenery. It's beautiful around here. I'll see you a bit later."

_Well it seems that everyone else has something else to do; maybe I should take Bobby's advice and go for a walk. _Matthew shrugged, grabbed his glasses, and started to walk out of the house. He was immediately pushed up against the wall in the foyer by a huge muscular arm. Pete's Russian face was mere inches from Matthew's and looking furious.

"I don't like you being that close to Kitty. You pull something like you pulled last night again and I'll break your skull. Got me?" Pete pulled back to hit Matthew in the stomach and centimeters before his gigantic fist made contact Matthew stopped it.

"Oh I get you, Rasputin. But I don't think there is any reason for violence here. You see," Matthew phased through Pete at this point and stood on the other side of him, "it's not like Kitty and I slept together or anything. I just slept on the floor seeing as I had nowhere else to sleep. And seeing what I saw this morning, you two are obviously very into one another. So calm the hell down, I'm not trying to steal your girlfriend. And in my defense, she never told me about you; maybe it's her you should talk to. And try to keep a handle on that temper of yours. As I'm sure you know well by now, that's not exactly smart around here. Now I'm going to go take a walk. I will be seeing you later, yes?"

Matthew walked away and through the front door of the mansion, leaving a quite stunned Pete Rasputin behind him. Pete walked upstairs to think things over; he was going to have to talk to Kitty when she came back inside. _Why didn't she tell him about me? Could she be interested in him?_ Pete shook his head, slammed his door, and fell back onto his bed.


	4. A Tour of Campus

Disclaimer: X-Men is a trademark of Marvel Comics. I do not claim to own any of the characters or settings used below. However, the original characters Jerry, Andrew and Sheila Tyson, and Matthew Tyson a.k.a. "Geist" belong to me.

Chapter Three: A Tour of Campus

Kitty was starting to sweat as the sun beat down on the mansion in the hills of upstate New York. Her tanned back glistened in the sunshine and she was just starting to fall asleep when a cold chill swept over her. Without even looking up she swatted at the air. "That's not funny, Bobby, stop!" The chill lingered and goose bumps began to cover her skin. She glanced up and saw the fog surrounding her. Before she could say anything she heard Matthew's voice behind her.

"So, you have a boyfriend, huh? That would have been nice to know at the start. Why didn't you tell me?"

Kitty turned to face him, but all she saw was more fog. She tied the back of her bikini back on and sat up. "Matthew, don't do this. Can't we just talk normally?"

"Not until you tell me the truth."

"Okay, I admit it. I like you. I just didn't want Pete to know, he can have such a temper at times, especially about things like this. He is so protective of me."

Matthew appeared out of nowhere and sat on the grass, letting the fog fade and the sunshine return. A soft breeze blew through his spiky hair. "Tell me about it. I've already had a little talk with him."

Kitty looked shocked and scooted towards Matthew a little bit. "Are you okay? He didn't hurt you, did he?"

"Nah, I'm fine. It wasn't for a lack of trying on his part though. It could have been quite a painful experience had it not been for my abilities."

"Well that's good. I would have really felt bad if you had gotten hurt over me when you didn't do anything wrong."

Matthew smiled and replied, "So you like me, huh? I'm not going to lie to you, I'm interested as well. How is this going to work out? Am I going to end up being 'The Other Guy'?"

Kitty smiled as well now. "I'm not sure exactly. I'm going to need some time to think things over. Can I get back with you on that?"

"Of course you can, Kitty. I'm going to take a walk around the grounds, maybe shoot some hoops. I think I saw a court whenever I was flown in."

"Yeah, you did. That's actually where the X-Jet comes out of whenever we go on missions. I will come find you when I'm done thinking."

"Okay, see you in a bit."

Matthew stood up and walked away, and Kitty laid back down in the sunshine. Matthew turned around just before he was out of earshot and added, "Oh, and by the way, the sweaty glistening look works well for you." He couldn't tell if it was the sun beginning to burn her or if she blushed, but whatever it was, he smiled as he turned around and walked away, enjoying the warm sunny morning.

Logan groaned as the sunshine hit his face. _It's morning already_, he thought as he growled and turned over. The morning sunshine beat down onto his bare back for a few minutes before his eyes snapped open. "Well it seems I'm not going back to sleep this morning," he said quietly to himself. He sat up slowly, turned back toward the sunlight, squinted, and peered out of the open window. The new kid they picked up last night, Matthew, was down on the lawn walking alone. _I do believe it's time Matthew had a scare. Payback's a bitch_. Logan quietly opened his window, eased his way out, and jumped for the lawn and Matthew. The fall was longer than he expected, the wind seemed to be rushing by him forever. The boy's reflexes seemed to be quicker than he thought because before he could even land he was suspended in the air just a few feet above the ground. Matthew looked up at him with a smile on his face.

"Well hello Logan, I trust your morning has been well?"

"It was alright until now. I had actually intended to pay you back for last night, but it seems there is no surprising you. Can you put me down please?"

Matthew lowered Logan to the ground, still smiling. "My vision might not be perfect in daylight but you would be surprised of how aware I am of everything."

"Is that another one of your abilities?"

"Not a mutant one, I had to learn my awareness. I trained myself to watch for the smallest movements and listen for the smallest sounds. That's how I knew y'all were coming last night. Well that and you didn't exactly make a quiet entrance."

Logan smirked a bit. "Is there anything you can't do?"

"Well I suck at football," Matthew replied with a laugh. He lifted a few small rocks and spun then around just above his palm as he talked. "I'm just not built for it, you know?"

"Yeah but you couldn't exactly be tackled, could you?"

"You're right on that part, I couldn't. But that would be cheating. What fun would that be?"

Logan shrugged and began to walk. Matthew followed along beside him. He looked down at Logan's hands then back at him. "How did you get the claws?"

"A long time ago some scientists performed hazardous experiments on me to try to turn me into some kind of ultimate killing machine. They covered my entire skeleton with adamantium. If it weren't for my healing abilities I would have been killed right then and there. The experiments cost me a fair amount of bone marrow as well, so really my abilities are the only thing keeping me alive even now. That's why I try to stay away from Jimmy, whose abilities are to negate other the powers of other mutants who are close to him. He could kill me if he got close to me long enough."

"Wow, that's quite a story. Your healing abilities must be really strong if you could survive that kind of surgery."

"You have no idea. They are also what are keeping me looking so young. I'm not even sure how long ago those experiments were done to me. So what's your story? You mentioned last night you had been alone since your house blew up. How did that happen?"

Matthew looked down as he said what he said next, the subject obviously still painful. "The neighbors were having a barbeque and a stray ember from the fire hit the exact point in the fuel line on the propane tank behind our house where it was weakest. I was in my room reading when I heard the first little bit of the explosion; it was just enough notice for me to use my abilities. I phased right through the floor to try to save my parents too, I landed right in front of them but I just wasn't fast enough," tears rolled down his face at this point, "I watched them die, Logan. Their bodies flash burned and broke as the house exploded. I-I wish I could have been faster, I-I wish I could have saved them. I miss them so much."

Matthew was holding back sobs at his point. _I think this is the first time he has told that story out loud_, Logan thought.

"Well why didn't you go live with other members of your family?"

"I knew they would look at me differently, because my powers saved me and because I hadn't been able to save my parents. I decided it was probably better to just live alone, where I wouldn't bother anyone."

"You had been alone all this time? That had to have been hard on you. You're just a kid."

Matthew looked up at this point, and cracked just a little bit of a smile. "Well I wasn't completely alone. My friend Jerry came by all the time to keep me company. He helped me feel better about everything, worked with me to control and hone my abilities. If I had been as good with my abilities then as I am now, I know I would have been able to save them."

By this time they had done almost an entire lap around the mansion and by some strange twist of luck they were right in front of the basketball courts. Logan pulled out a cigar and turned to Matthew with a slight smile on his face. "Listen kid, if anyone understands loss it's me. It's been great talking to you, and if you have proved anything to me today it's that you're made of tougher shit than most fifteen year olds. Meet me down on sub-basement one at half past three. You will know you're in the right place when you get there. Right now though, I'm going to go grab some lunch. Don't be late." He lit the cigar as he walked away towards the back door of the mansion.

Matthew turned towards the courts where there was only one other person was out there. Despite it being bright outside and there was next to no shade, shadows seemed to be drawn to this guy. He was taller than Matthew, dressed in a trench coat, gloves, boots, jeans and what seemed to be a t-shirt underneath the coat. He had dark hair, most of it covered his eyes, but when he looked up in Matthew's direction he thought he saw a bit of a flash of red. He was playing with a deck of cards, floating them around and making them disappear. Matthew considered going over there, but decided against it. This guy looked a bit dangerous. And from the looks of him Matthew knew he would be seeing him later. The subbasements of the mansion were the levels where the X-Men trained, and this guy looked like he had merited an invite down there this afternoon as well.

Matthew was glad he made the decision he did because out of the corner of his eye he caught movement that turned out to be Kitty, still dressed in her bikini, but with a towel around her waist. The guy with the cards looked up again, let his eyes linger for just a moment, and then turned his attention back to his cards. Kitty smiled as she approached, which Matthew hoped meant she had good news. As she walked up Matthew admired her, her long brown hair with pink streaks falling over her freshly tanned shoulders and chest, almost all the way down to her perfectly flat stomach. She laughed as she got closer.

"Jeez Matthew, can you stare a little harder?"

"I'm sorry, you're just so distracting," he replied.

"Distracting from what?"

"My standing around time," said Matthew, grinning.

Kitty laughed. She put her hands on her hips. "What have you been doing all this time?"

"I've been talking to Logan. We were just sharing stories from the past."

"I see. Well I have good news; I'm going to end things with Pete. He is just too controlling recently, and I would rather be with you; you seem like much more of a free spirit. However though I think we should keep things between us very low key for the moment. Things could get very bad if Pete saw us together too soon."

"I agree. I told him earlier I wasn't trying to steal his girlfriend, which I wasn't; things just sort of happened like this. I'm happy though, this is awesome," said Matthew with a smile. He then added, "Oh, before I forget; what's the deal with this subbasement thing? Logan told me to meet him down there at half past three."

Kitty smiled. "This is going to be fun. You got invited to our first danger room session since Alcatraz. To tell you the truth I had forgotten about that. I need to go start getting ready. I will see you then, ok?"

"Alright, I will see you then."

Kitty seemed to want Matthew to stare, because she switched her hips back and forth as she walked away. The guy with the cards looked up and stared for a bit too, then looked in Matthew's direction. Matthew flipped a wave bye then vanished. The guy didn't seem to care much as he turned his attention back to the cards. Matthew walked along and through the back of the mansion to grab something to eat, then up to the second floor to grab his things. Walking down the increasingly crowded hall Matthew began to feel like he actually belonged. Here, he was normal; here, he wasn't a freak who couldn't save his own family. The walk seemed longer than he remembered from last night, but he finally made it to what would become his room. Since he hadn't moved in just yet, he decided it was probably better to knock first. Just after he did he heard movement from within and a girl answered the door. She was gorgeous, with brown hair that was tinted slightly red, and two long blonde streaks at the front of her bangs. Her big, green eyes looked him over for a moment before saying in an accent a bit more southern than his own, "Bobby is this the guy you were talking about?"

From inside Matthew heard Bobby's voice say, "His eyes glowing?"

"Yeah they are," she replied, and then she added to him, "They are beautiful, by the way."

Matthew smiled. "Thanks. Can I come in?"

She kind of chuckled and opened the door. "Sorry, I didn't mean to leave you standing in the hallway like that. I'm Marie, but everyone around here calls me Rogue. And you're Matthew, right? Bobby told me all he knew about you, which isn't a whole lot. I swear as far as I know you have as many secrets as Logan does. Pretty much all I know is that you're talented and that you're a fan of scare tactics."

"Yeah that's pretty much all I want to share. My past isn't exactly pretty. You will just have to get to know me if you want to know me; I want to start fresh."

"Well alright then, I can understand that. The other bed is just over here. I'm going to let you know now, I'm in here a lot, but you shouldn't let that discourage you from coming in for anything. Just if you see something on the door be sure to knock first."

Matthew laughed. "Alright, that's fine by me. Kitty told me you went to one of those cure clinics. Was it really that bad having your abilities?"

"Well they weren't so bad if you didn't mind having no human contact, ever. I couldn't touch anyone without hurting them."

"Wow, I had no idea, I'm sorry," said Matthew as he put his stuff under his bed—his stuff being an extra pair of shoes—and sat down on top of it. He then turned to Bobby, who was lying on top of the bed with Rogue who had now moved up next to him to snuggle. "So are you going to this 'Danger Room' thing at three thirty?"

"You know it man; where would the X-Men be without Iceman?"

Rogue slapped Bobby on the chest. "You have quite an ego on you lately, mister. What's your deal?"

"All I know is that after Alcatraz I feel a ton stronger. Taking down Pyro—he's down the hall now by the way Matt—was such a rush. And I know the team needs me, we all need one another. That's the whole point of a team. If one part doesn't need the rest then what's the point of a team?"

"Okay, you have a point there. But still, you should try being less arrogant. You need them as much as they need you, and you know it."

Bobby looked Rogue in the eyes and kissed her. "You're right, baby."

Matthew rolled his eyes. He was contemplating what to do with the little bit of time he had before the session in the Danger Room when there was a knock at the door. Matthew got up and answered it; Ororo was standing there in a black leather jumpsuit.

"Just the person I wanted to see," she said, throwing something yellow at Matthew. "These are your training clothes. It's Teflon-coated Under-Armor. I suggest you get ready, and soon," she then turned to Bobby. "Suit up and be downstairs in fifteen. We need you there early." She turned around and walked out the door.

Matthew looked at the both of them, confused. "That didn't quite seem like the same person I met last night," he said.

"We know," they both replied at once. Bobby stepped forward towards his closet and reached for his leathers. "Storm gets like that over training. In normal life she is just about as nice as she can be, but when it comes to X-Men business she is as serious as a drill sergeant."

"I see," replied Matthew, sliding off his t-shirt and sliding on the spandex-like training shirt. He moved around in it to find out that it moved well with him and fit his form perfectly. Rogue let a look linger a little too long before looking back to Bobby. He didn't seem to notice Rogue's stare as he kept getting dressed. He zipped up the suit, which was black leather with blue accents on it, almost but not quite as form fitting as Matthew's.

"Well I should get going downstairs. Do you remember the way down there Matt?"

"If all else fails I can just phase down a level. How long do I have?"

"On second thought, maybe you should come with me. You might end up getting lost, and being late is not an option. Come on, let's get going."

Bobby kissed Rogue goodbye and she lay down on the bed and waved bye to Matthew. Bobby jogged down the hallway towards the lift and pressed the button to call it up to the second floor. Matthew looked Bobby over then looked down at himself.

"How come you get the cool leather uniform and I have this thing?"

"I get to wear this because I'm not a newbie, Matthew. You will understand once we are in there why you're wearing that."

"Oh, okay," said Matthew, looking skeptical. The doors opened and he and Bobby stepped inside.

"I'm serious Matthew; the training uniform has a purpose. So stop looking at me like I'm crazy."

"Oh no, I believe you," replied Matthew, smirking a little bit, "it just feels a little silly wearing something so tight and yellow."

"Trust me, I know. I had to wear it too at one point. You really get over it and get used to it pretty quickly once training starts."

The lift slowed to a stop and the doors opened into a much different environment. Chrome steel lined the walls and floor, the footsteps of the two boys echoed as they walked down the hall towards the voices that were slowly getting louder. They turned a corner and there, at the end of the hallway, was a door more imposing than most bank vault doors. There were six people in that hallway as Bobby and Matthew walked up, all talking to one another. Kitty was still on Pete's arm; she must not have told him yet. Matthew caught her eye and she slipped him a little smile and a wink that Pete didn't seem to notice. Both she and Pete were in a leather uniform similar to Bobby's, but Kitty's had pink accents and it was a great deal more revealing. Her pants were a skin tight low-rise hip hugger, and her top seemed to be little more than a bolero jacket over a sports bra. Matthew let eyes linger a bit too long because he saw Kitty blush and Pete tighten a fist. Pete had already activated his powers; organic steel covered him from head to toe. If it weren't for the black leather of his uniform he could have blended right into the walls and floor. Matthew noticed that the others were in the same uniform he was. The guy from the basketball courts was off to the side, now only with a couple of cards. He saw Matthew and nodded his head; Matthew flicked him one as well. The other three Matthew didn't know, but figured he would before this was all over.

Bobby looked around and did sort of a count with his head. "Okay, I think we are all here. Let's get this thing going, shall we?"


	5. The Danger Room

Disclaimer: X-Men is a trademark of Marvel Comics. I do not claim to own any of the characters or settings used below. However, the original characters Jerry, Andrew and Sheila Tyson, and Matthew Tyson a.k.a. "Geist" belong to me.

Chapter Four: The Danger Room

Everyone moved forward, and as Matthew passed Pete he heard him whisper into his ear, "I'm watching you, ghost boy." Matthew said nothing, just let his eyes flash as he walked by. As they all approached, the giant vault-like door slid open revealing what appeared to be a very dark room. Matthew's night vision picked up what appeared to be downed buildings inside, but decided it must just be his eyes playing tricks with him. As they crossed the threshold things snapped into focus and the door slammed closed behind them. Matthew turned around to see the same bleak landscape that was now at his back. He reached for the door but grabbed only air. One of the girls did the same thing.

"Where's the door?" Matthew asked to anyone who was listening.

"Ain't that easy, kid," replied Logan's voice from the darkness. His face was illuminated as he hit his cigar and took a long slow drag from it. He was standing on a pile of rubble dressed in the same leather uniform as the other three, looking them all over.

"Pryde," he said succinctly, taking attendance. His eyes narrowed as he looked her over, he obviously didn't like the changes she had made to her uniform.

"Rasputin," he called out next, finding Pete easily within the crowd.

"Drake," he said, his eyes landing on Bobby. He nodded, acknowledging his presence, and then turned to the rest of them.

"Tyson," he said next, and Matthew flashed his eyes at Logan, letting him know he was there. Logan then moved on to the other four that he didn't know. The next two were both very tall and lean, one of each sex. The boy was blonde and looked like he spent a good bit of time outside, judging by his tan. And the girl, she was Native American with long, raven-colored hair.

"Sam Guthrie, Danielle Moonstar," Logan said, using their full names and looking them over. This was obviously the first time he had seen either of them. He turned his head to the guy with the cards, who was hanging back in the shadows. "Remy LeBeau?"

Remy nodded his head at Logan, and Matthew could see quite well now the glow of his eyes in the dark. He looked at the last girl, who looked surprisingly dangerous, yet somehow statuesque. She held herself perfectly still, dark eyes staring Logan down. Her dark hair fell to her shoulders and just a little over her face, but not enough to cover the long black lines coming from the corners of her eyes that looked a bit like tears and blood at the same time. It gave Matthew the creeps just looking at her.

"Sage…"said Logan, looking over his shoulder at something Matthew couldn't see. He turned back to them with a serious look on his face.

"Okay, firstly, this isn't a game. Anyone who thinks different, go out back and sit a spell by the memorials. The world could be a nasty place before we come along; the presence of mutants, with powers, has upped the ante into the stratosphere. Most of the kids upstairs, they'll leave this place with a degree and a future, and that'll pretty much be the end of it. Mutant or not, they'll go on with their lives. You lot, you're cut from a different cloth. Here is where we see what you're made of," he said, pausing a moment to take a drag of his cigar, "It's gonna seem like this is all about ducking and dodging, staying in line…but what it's really about is…being part of something. Not just a team. More that that."

Logan looked over his shoulder again and that Sage girl looked where he did too. "Anyway," he said, taking one last puff and throwing it aside, "I'm not one for speeches or theory. Around here, we pretty much learn by doing. So—let's get started."

As if it were on cue, all hell broke loose. Fires ignited themselves and the ground vibrated periodically, like giant footsteps. _What in the—_Matthew didn't even get to finish the thought as the missile came streaking towards the team. Bobby fired an ice beam at it, slowing its velocity slightly and Matthew used his telekinesis to turn it away from everyone. It exploded as it hit the ground, showering them all with debris. "Take cover!" shouted Logan. Matthew ducked behind a rock. He lowered the temperature and upped the humidity, shrouding the X-Men in a fog. He doubted it would do much good, but it was worth a shot. The rumblings on the ground seemed closer now, and Matthew swore he saw a giant metal foot hit the ground nearby. His ears picked up a whooshing noise and thought it was another missile at first, then noticed that it came from behind him. It looked like a missile of their own had been launched at the Sentinel, or whatever it was. Matthew looked behind him and noticed that he couldn't find Sam Guthrie. A second or two later he heard a very loud clanging noise as if the Sentinel had been hit with a big piece of metal. The missile-like projectile bounced back and skidded to the ground. Just like Matthew had thought, there was Sam, up to his knees in the rubble. "Well I think it's safe to say that isn't going to work!" shouted Sam over the noise of everything going on.

The Sentinel returned the attack two fold as now two missiles rushed towards the team. The X-Men scrambled as the missiles tried to lock onto their heat signatures. Matthew glanced at Bobby, wanting to know if the same plan would be useful now. Bobby shook his head, obviously thinking that running was now the only solution. Matthew spun to face the missiles, which were now locking onto Kitty and Colossus. Matthew lowered their body temps by super-cooling the air around them temporarily, causing the missiles to lose their lock and resume a straight path. Thinking quickly, Matthew wrapped his mind around the missiles with his telekinesis and decided to take a chance._ I can't deflect two of them, maybe something else will work,_ he thought. He concentrated extremely hard and projected his phasing power using telekinesis. It worked, and instead of the missiles exploding as they hit the ground, they traveled through the earth until Matthew released his hold on them. There was a low rumble and a light shockwave as the missiles detonated deep underground. Remy chose this moment to go on an assault and tossed a card, which was now glowing, towards the Sentinel's feet. It hit the rubble right where the foot met the earth and exploded. The ground opened up and caved in on itself, creating somewhat of a trap for the Sentinel's foot. There was no way it could move now.

Danielle now brought herself into the open as the Sentinel struggled to get free from his earthy prison. A bow and arrow materialized from nowhere and she launched a glowing arrow at the sentinel's other foot. Energy and electricity lanced up the robot's leg and disabled it. It was a sitting duck now, but it wasn't about to go down without a fight. It launched another missile at the X-Men, and Matthew did the same thing with it as he did before, detonating it underground, harmlessly. Bobby now stepped out and upped his power, covering himself in ice. He let another ice beam fly, but this time at the Sentinel itself and ice began to cover the robot, weakening the metal of its chest plate. Matthew picked up on the noise of a missile about to be launched and that's when he heard Sage in his ear, "Do what you have done before, but turn it around back towards the beast. It will disable him."

Matthew chose to follow her advice. He projected his phasing power again, which was getting easier to do he noticed, but he also applied a strong telekinetic push to the tip of the missile, causing it to spin around the other way. It continued towards him and the team but phased through anything it its way until it regained its momentum and flew back towards the Sentinel. Matthew let go of the missile and just let it fly, right back into the chest of the robot. The explosion rocked the Sentinel, but it was still running. Logan, Colossus and Kitty now stepped out from behind the rubble. Kitty climbed on Logan's back and Colossus picked the both of them up. Matthew lowered the fog as he launched them and they flew through the air; he wanted to see this. Kitty phased the both of them through the Sentinel's head and once they were at the back she used her powers to stop them in midair. Logan plunged his claws into the metal shell of the robot's head, slicing it open like a hot knife through butter. He scrambled the insides of the Sentinel's head and the robot finally went down. Lights flickered on, the cityscape faded into nothing, as did the Sentinel. Matthew and his new team mates looked around, confused, as the room returned to the same chrome steel appearance as the hallway outside. Ororo's voice came over a loudspeaker from an observation blister at the top of the room.

"Very good job everyone." The speaker cut off and the doors opened, and they all filed out.

Matthew jogged up next to Bobby and matched his pace. Bobby glanced at him; Matthew had a very confused look on his face.

"What's the deal on that room? Everything felt so real."

"That's the whole point of the danger room—to perfectly simulate combat situations, including damage. If you 'die' in the danger room, the computer knocks you out cold until the training session is over. It happened to me a few months ago. I'll tell you what; it really does feel like you're dead."

"Who designed it?"

"Kitty designed the program, before that the danger room was just one big smart obstacle course. I swear; that girl is a genius with software. She also designed the program that found you; it's an imitation of the device 'Cerebro' that the old headmaster Charles Xavier would use to locate other mutants. It would require a strong psychic to work that machine, and since he passed, there haven't been any around the mansion." Matthew gave him a funny look. "Hey man, no offense to you, but I don't think even you are strong enough to work this thing. It takes some real power to do it, and you might get hurt if you try."

"So she just designed a program that did the same thing? How long that take?"

"It took about a week. Like I said; the girl is a genius."

"Jesus, you weren't kidding. Hey listen, could tell her to meet me back in the room? Pete isn't letting me anywhere near her."

Bobby gave Matthew a handshake as the doors to the elevator opened to the ground floor. "No problem man. I'm going to go back to the room myself as well for right now though; I have to get out of this uniform."

"Oh yeah, that is definitely a good idea. I look like an idiot in this thing."

Matthew and Bobby walked back down the hall to their room. Bobby opened the door to find Rogue, asleep in his bed. Matthew ignored her, walked to his closet, and changed back into his other shirt that he had on earlier, a tight black t-shirt. _Damn I really need to go shopping_, he thought. He turned around to find Bobby out of his leathers and under the covers with Rogue.

"Okay two things; one, can't you wait until I leave, and two, what about Kitty?"

Bobby looked up, caught off guard. "Oh shit man, I about forgot. Hang on, let me get dressed." Bobby got up from the bed and got dressed into his clothes from this morning. He gave Matthew a grin and slipped out of the door. Matthew sat down on his bed, decided to lay back and stare at the ceiling. He lay there and thought about what would happen should Pete catch him in what he was going to do. It wasn't like they were doing anything wrong, they were just talking; but there was no denying the chemistry between the two of them. A smile spread across his face as he heard footsteps outside the door. Rogue heard them too, got up, got dressed—she looked quite nice in lingerie too—and opened the door, exiting as Kitty entered. She put her hand down, as if she were about to knock as Rogue opened the door. She was back in normal clothes; a very form fitting girl's t-shirt and a pair of tight jeans that hugged her slender hips. Her hair looked surprisingly beautiful, considering they had just come from a rigorous training session. It fell over her shoulders and framed her face, the pink highlights accenting the hazel in her eyes. She smirked at him and put her hands on her hips.

"So are you going to just stare or did you have something to say?" she said with a laugh.

"Uh yeah, sorry," Matthew said with a laugh. "Did you design the computer system in the Danger Room?"

"Yeah I did. It only took me a week or so to program it. Do you like it? I put a lot of effort into programming it, making it feel as real as possible."

"Yeah it's nice. I could feel the heat on my face when the missiles came close by. So are you just a software programmer or can you do hardware too?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Because if you can, I want you to make something for me," replied Matthew.

"Like what?"

"Well I want something to help me breathe whenever I'm phasing through things. I don't know if you have the same problem but whenever I'm phasing I can't breathe so I can only phase as long as I can hold my breath."

"That's the same problem I have. But I never have to phase for that long so it never really bothered me. How long do you want to phase?"

"I want to phase as long as I need to."

"So you want something to let you breathe in a phasing state for an extended period of time? I will see what I can do. Was that everything?" Kitty said, with a hint of surprise in her voice.

"Well no; I wanted to tell you that I was impressed with your performance in there."

"Thank you Matt," Kitty said, opening her arms to give Matthew a hug. They embraced for a moment and upon backing apart again, their eyes locked and the tension in the room skyrocketed. Matthew felt himself leaning in and noticed Kitty did as well. Their lips barely brushed together in a soft kiss and they backed off, faces red and flushed. Kitty backed away, flustered. "I-I should go," she said, stuttering slightly.

"You okay? You seem a bit uneasy."

"I'm not sure. I just am not very comfortable doing this while Pete is still in the picture. I just need some time." She backed away and out of the room. Just before she closed the door she poked her head back in the room. "I'm going to work on your breathing unit while I try to figure things out. I will see you soon." She shut the door and she was gone.

Matthew lay back on his bed once again, lost in thought. He felt suddenly tired as the day's activities caught up on him. As his now heavy eyes closed, he told himself he would feel better when he woke up.


	6. Personal Rifts and Dimensional Shifts

Disclaimer: X-Men is a trademark of Marvel Comics. I do not claim to own any of the characters or settings used below. However, the original characters Jerry, Andrew and Sheila Tyson, and Matthew Tyson a.k.a. "Geist" belong to me.

Chapter Five: Personal Rifts and Dimensional Shifts

Far away, amongst the sands of Egypt, machines whirred to life inside of a huge dark room and a huge dark figure stood over their startup, laughing quietly. Sparks began to fly and a body moved down the conveyor belt towards the end of the machines. Lights flickered on under the helmet of the body and as it hit the floor at the end of the belt it marched over to what would become a formation of soldiers. The laughing grew in volume as more soldiers worked their way down the belt. The laughing grew ever louder, but stopped abruptly when the figure whipped around to face him.

Matthew awoke with a start. It was dark outside, and he was alone in his room. _Was that really just a dream? _He wasn't entirely sure it was, because a few days before Logan and Ororo arrived he had been having dreams about a huge black bird descending upon his house. Seeing as their jet was an SR-71 Blackbird, he figured he should possibly read more into his dreams than one person usually should. He looked over and Bobby was asleep, with Rogue sleeping beside him. Unable to go back to sleep, Matthew climbed out of bed, cringing slightly as his feet hit the hardwood floor. He phased through the door and was walking down the hall when he heard noises from inside Kitty's room. A muffled argument was taking place on the other side of the door, and Matthew's heart began beating faster. He went invisible and phased quietly through the doorway. He stood there and listened, out of the way as Kitty and Pete fought.

"Why are you doing this Kitty??" said Pete, his voice frustrated.

"I don't like you being so jealous and over protective of me. Do you not trust me?"

"I trust you; it's him I don't trust."

"Why?"

"I have seen the way he looks at you Kitty; and it bothers me that you aren't doing anything about it."

"See that's where you're wrong Pete, I am doing something about it. Matthew cares about me and gets me more than you ever did. We're over with; we're done."

"You don't know him, Kitty. He has been here for a day and a half. I have been around for over a year. How could he possibly get you more than I do?"

"Well for one thing, if you _got_ me, we wouldn't be having this fight right now, would we?"

Pete looked defeated and sighed. His shoulders slumped and he looked down at the floor. A moment passed and Pete remained silent. Then he looked back up at Kitty. "You know what, fine. If you just want to give up on things, be my guest. But don't come crying to me when 'ghost boy' turns out to be an ass." There was anger in his voice and body language as he spun around and stormed out the door, slamming it behind him. Kitty was quiet, her eyes wet with tears. Matthew decided to speak up, becoming visible once again and surprising the hell out of Kitty.

"You okay Kitty?"

"How long have you been there?"

"I have been here long enough. I heard you and Pete fighting so I decided to poke my head in."

Kitty sniffed a little bit, looking like she might cry at any time. Matthew walked over and sat with Kitty on her bed, putting his arm around her. She laid her head on his shoulder and a tear hit the leg of his jeans. He held her closer as she started to cry, speaking in between sobs.

"I hated having to do that to him, he really was one of the best things that ever happened to me. But he has changed so much since Alcatraz. I just couldn't do it anymore."

"So it was harder than you thought it was going to be?" asked Matthew, kissing her lightly on top of the head.

Kitty sighed and replied, "Yeah, it was. Don't make me regret doing it, okay?"

Matthew lifted her chin up, bringing her eyes to his. "I wouldn't dream of it." He looked into her hazel eyes for a moment or two before he felt himself and her leaning in for a kiss. Their lips pressed together in a kiss, only they didn't back apart this time. The rest of the world disappeared as they embraced each other, lost in the passionate kiss. Minutes passed and they fell back onto the bed as they continued to kiss. Eventually they stopped and just lay there, with Kitty lying on Matthew's chest. She dozed off and was breathing quietly as Matthew watched her sleep. He tried closing his eyes, but his dream was there waiting for him, the shadowy figure staring him down and laughing. His eyes jerked open. It would seem he wasn't going to get any sleep tonight. He phased slowly through the bed and made sure Kitty was sleeping before he passed through the floor. He landed in the hallway on the first floor and walked towards the kitchen. He poured himself a glass of water and as he turned he noticed the flashing light of a television in the hallway. He walked towards the light and found a den-like room with a big screen TV. The Native American girl from the danger room was sitting on the couch watching some late night cartoon. He stood there for a moment until she eventually turned around, sensing his presence. She seemed surprised to find someone else up. She got up off of the couch and walked over to him.

"I can't really see you that well but I know who you are, I can tell by those eyes. You're that Tyson kid that was in the danger room."

"That's me. And you're Danielle, right?"

"Call me Dani. You were a huge help in there today. You're a class four aren't you?"

"I'm a what?"

"A class four. There are five classes of mutants. The most powerful mutants like magneto and Professor Xavier were class fours. The only class five ever discovered was Jean, and you saw how that went."

"Ah, ok. So what 'class' are you?"

"I'm a class three, which is what most of the X-Men are. Three is the most common class of mutant, although there are quite a bit of class two's and ones here. They're the kids who will just leave here with a degree, the kids who will probably just live normal lives. Kids like you and me and the rest of the X-Men, we were destined for something more."

Matthew nodded his head. Part of him knew that destiny wasn't that far off from revealing itself. He wasn't about to let her know that though. Deciding to change the subject, he sat down on the couch and asked, "So what are your powers?"

She sat beside him and replied, "I can manipulate the chemicals in a person's brain to make them see their worst fears. I can also create pure energy and launch it at my enemies, usually in the form of the arrow you saw today."

"Ah, we have something in common then."

"What do you mean?"

"It's not exactly a power of mine, but I like scaring people too. I have learned how to manipulate the air and create sounds using my telekinesis."

"Oh cool. That just proves you're a class four; the other telekinetic kids at the school are barely half of what you are."

"Well thanks. So why are you up so late?"

"I just don't sleep very well. I keep having weird dreams, all shadows and laughter…"

"Once again, we have something in common. I had the same dream."

"That's bizarre. You think all of the psychics have been having it?"

"It's possible. All I know is I don't like losing sleep over it."

Dani scooted a little closer to Matthew and replied, "Me either. Do you think we should try to go to sleep again?"

Matthew looked at Dani, she was staring him down. He was beginning to think she had more on her mind than just sleeping. "That sounds like a good idea. I'm going to go back up to my room and attempt to get some sleep, you should do the same. I need to go shopping for more clothes tomorrow, would you like to help?"

Dani seemed a bit confused for a moment, and then regained her composure. "Sure, that sounds great. I will see you in the morning then."

She walked away quickly, and Matthew could tell she was angry. He shrugged it off, because he knew Dani would get over it. He walked back upstairs and walked through the door into Kitty's room. She hadn't moved since he had gone downstairs. He looked at the bedside clock; not much time had passed. He phased back through her where he was and kissed her on the forehead. She stirred a little bit and leaned up to kiss him back without even opening her eyes. They made out for a few minutes before she fell back asleep in his arms.

For the second time Matthew awoke in Kitty's room, remembering this time to put on his glasses before opening his eyes. As he blinked away the drowsiness, he noticed that Kitty had rolled all the way to the other side of the bed and stolen the covers. He smiled at her, all curled up in the covers, sleeping peacefully. He rolled out of bed but jumped back when he saw something scurry underneath the bed. He landed back on the mattress and woke Kitty up.

"What are you doing?" she asked sleepily.

"I-I saw something…go under the bed."

"You big baby, that's just my cat. Come here boy!"

A small gray cat ran out from under the bed and jumped into Kitty's arms. It purred as she stroked its short gray fur. Something seemed wrong about it though and Matthew noticed. The cat looked right into his eyes and stopped purring. Matthew stared it down and it crawled out of Kitty's arms, continuing to stare at him.

"Kitty, that thing isn't a cat, is it?"

"You are the first person to have noticed. His name is Lockheed, and he is a dragon."

"A dragon? I thought dragons didn't exist."

"Well he is very much real," said Kitty, removing the cat's collar. The image of the cat faded, and a small, four legged, purple dragon stood on the bed, still staring at him. "Oh by the way Matt, he says stop staring at him."

"He can talk?"

_I can talk just fine, thank you._

Matthew looked around the room in confusion. "Was that just in my head?"

"Lockheed is telepathic, Matt. He can't speak with normal words, so he speaks with his mind."

"Where did he come from?"

_I came from the ether._

"What is the ether?"

_The ether is the space between dimensions. I come from another world all together._

"Well that explains the whole existing thing. Did you find him Kitty?"

"Yes I did. I discovered the extent of my powers a few months ago after Alcatraz, and learned I could phase in between the fabric of reality itself, at certain weak points in the fabric of space-time."

"Show me. I want to see this place."

"I think you just want a dragon."

Matthew laughed. "Well, maybe a little."

Kitty got up out of bed and got dressed. Matthew did the same, pulling on the same clothes he had on yesterday. Kitty shot a look at him for this move. "I have no clothes, Kitty. After this little adventure, we need to go shopping." She smiled and kept getting dressed. When they were both decent she put the collar back on Lockheed, returning the image of the cat around his body. _I will stay here; you two have your fun._ "Are you sure Lockheed? You haven't been home in months."

_I am positive. Now go._

Kitty and Matthew phased out of the second floor window, floating to the ground on their power. The sun was just rising over the trees and it streamed through the garden in which they stood, making it look like it belonged in heaven. Kitty took Matthew's hand and led him to a point in the garden between two elm trees. Standing in front of the rose bushes, she grabbed both his hands and put them on her waist. Matthew felt himself blush but continued to watch as Kitty put her hands out into the air in front of her, pressing her hands together and pulling them apart slowly. Matthew felt her phasing power kick in and it transferred to him as well. He felt himself being drawn forward and a bright light enveloped them both.

Bobby was jolted awake by the flash. Rogue grumbled and turned over. He rolled out of bed and wandered to the window to see what was going on. At first glance everything seemed normal. The sunlight streamed between the two elm trees in the garden that were in front of his window and illuminated his room. He started to walk back to bed when something caught his eye. He turned back around and stared at the garden. The air between the trees shimmered, as if it had been recently pushed apart. _Kitty, what have you done now?_ Bobby walked away with his hand on his forehead. He had seen her do the dimensional shift thing before, that's how she brought back Lockheed. It still made him nervous when she did it though. So many things could go wrong. Especially since he was sure she took Matthew with her this time. Adding another person into the mix just made things riskier. He pulled on some pants to go downstairs and get something to eat. He kissed Rogue on the head and hoped that they came back safe.

As he reached the bottom of the stairs he nearly ran into Pete. Pete pushed him to the side and scowled. "Watch where you're going, **Iceman**."

"What's your problem, Pete?" replied Bobby with just as angry of a scowl and frosted over fists.

Pete glanced down at Bobby's hands and his anger faded slightly. "My problem is you and your new friend, Matthew. He stole Kitty from me without even trying."

"That sounds like a problem between you and Matt. Don't take your problems out on me and don't drag me into this just because I happen to be friends with my new room mate."

Pete scowled again, obviously still looking for a way to release his anger over losing Kitty. He stomped upstairs and out of sight. Bobby shook his head and continued towards the kitchen. As he fixed himself some breakfast, the Native American girl from the danger room walked in, still in her pajama bottoms and a tank top. "Good morning Bobby," she said.

"Good morning…Dani, right?"

"Yep that's me. How are you doing this morning?"

"I'm doing alright. I wish I had gotten a little more sleep, but otherwise I'm alright."

Dani seemed to think she understood, winking and replying, "I get you. So where is Matthew? You two are room mates right?"

"To tell you the truth I don't know. He was gone before I got up."

Dani looked disappointed. "Oh okay," she shrugged off her obvious disappointment and changed the subject. "So what are you up to today?"

"I'm not really sure; probably hanging out outside with Marie. What about you?"

"Well I was supposed to take Matthew shopping. Maybe he will get back in time for us to still do that."

"Yeah, maybe he will," replied Bobby, looking out of the window into the sunshine.


	7. Exploring the Ether

Disclaimer: X-Men is a trademark of Marvel Comics. I do not claim to own any of the characters or settings used below. However, the original characters Jerry, Andrew and Sheila Tyson, and Matthew Tyson a.k.a. "Geist" belong to me.

Chapter 6: Exploring the Ether

When the light faded, Matthew and Kitty were standing in front of a rose bush between two elm trees. Matthew looked around confused. "Have we gone anywhere Kitty? This looks exactly the same as the place where we just left from at the mansion."

"Convenient, isn't it? These bushes and trees overlap between the dimensions, so it makes it easy to find the weak spot to go back. Turn around, take a look."

Matthew and Kitty turned around, and Matthew's jaw dropped. Where the mansion once stood was a wide open plain of flowing green grass, with a huge mountain in the distance. The blue-white sun was beating down on the plain, giving everything an ever so slight blue tint yet a slight breeze kept things around a comfortable seventy degrees. Kitty began to walk across the plain like it was nothing special towards the mountain. Matthew was so stunned that Kitty's dimensional shift thing actually worked he didn't even realize that she was far ahead of him before she looked back and called to him. "Are you coming or not?"

Matthew shook himself free of the shock and began jogging towards Kitty. He almost immediately felt lightheaded and as he caught up to Kitty he was almost completely out of breath. He considered himself to be in pretty good shape so he was puzzled by his fatigue. Kitty noticed this and decided to answer Matthew's thoughts. "The air is thinner here, so you shouldn't over exert yourself. You could pass out easily even if you're in great shape. Just walk with me and concentrate on getting your breath back. It's not going to get any easier as we climb that mountain."

"We have to climb that thing?"

"Of course, silly," she replied with a smile. "You didn't think dragons lived in the grass did you?"

"The lack of oxygen must be getting to me. I knew that."

The two of them crossed the plain slowly, the mountain that was once in the distance drawing ever closer. As the grass ran out and was replaced by rocks, Matthew began to notice just how huge this mound of dirt and rock was. Whispers from nowhere clouded his mind and he was confused, but only for a moment. The whispers must be from the dragons dwelling on the mountain. Kitty noticed the flicker of confusion and spoke up. "You hear them don't you Matthew?"

"Yeah I do," he replied. As he looked up towards the summit, a huge silhouette against the bright sky covered them in shadow. The dragon's wingspan was easily over 100 feet, with the dragon itself being 50 feet in length from head to tail. Its four legs were tucked close to its body as it took off from the peak. The wind from its wings rushed down the mountainside and whipped against Matthew and Kitty, both of them using their powers to avoid being knocked over by the gale. The dragon luckily paid them no attention and flew gracefully across the plain, floating on the updrafts caused by the warm sunny day.

"There is no way that thing is related to Lockheed," Matthew said skeptically.

"Actually it is. I was confused at first, but Lockheed explained everything to me. Dragons don't grow outside their natural environment, and when I first found Lockheed he was just a baby. Without the blue-white sun of his home world, he will never grow to the giant size of the dragon you just saw, although he will age normally inside his mind."

"Awesome," Matthew replied, then added after thinking about it, "Wait a minute, you stole a baby dragon from here?"

"He followed me back. I didn't take him against his will."

"Still though, I don't think his mother will be too happy to see you."

"The way things are looking, his mother is probably dead. Time moves much faster here than on Earth, and from the time I have had him there I'm willing to bet it has been 200 years here since any one of the dragons have seen him."

Matthew and Kitty started to climb the slowly increasing slope of the mountain. The whispers began to gain volume, and Matthew felt like he had to speak louder over the voices in his head. "So when we get back, no time will have passed?"

"Pretty much. From anyone who was paying attention's point of view, we will have been gone a few seconds at the most."

"That could be useful. Remind me to ask you how to do that thing to get here just in case I'm running late on some homework."

Kitty laughed. "Yeah sure, I'll teach you, if you think you can handle it."

Matthew chose to let some silence sink in as they climbed, the whispers becoming constantly louder. Before he knew it the slope of the mountain was close to vertical and he found himself out of breath again as he climbed from ledge to ledge, following Kitty's lead. She climbed up over what he suspected would be yet another small ledge, but instead found himself on a ring-like plateau just a few hundred feet from the summit. Kitty stood there, panting as she struggled to regain her air supply in the even thinner air at the higher altitude. Matthew looked around, taking in his surroundings. The earth was patched here and there with sparse grass, outcroppings of rock were everywhere, and in some were cave-like holes. These holes ranged from the diameter of a basket ball to the size of an eighteen-wheeler. He was willing to bet he didn't want to go in the big ones. The whispers he heard before were more definite, and the dragons dwelling inside seemed to know that the two of them were there but didn't seem to care about their presence. As he walked around, amazed by this tiny little animal city, he noticed that inside of a medium sized hole were a few assorted colored stones. He leaned closer, and a voice from behind him made him jump. "Found some eggs, have you?"

"You almost gave me a heart attack, Kitty. Is that what these things are?"

"Yeah. It's strange that the older dragons haven't confronted us about the eggs yet, they made a big deal about me when I found Lockheed. Of course they couldn't touch me, but that's beside the point."

"I think they might be just a bit wary of me, Kitty. Maybe they can sense my abilities?"

"That's possible I guess. They do have some psychic ability."

"I just can't believe what I'm looking at…" Matthew trailed off as a shiny black egg wiggled slightly. Kitty's eyes became as big as saucers.

"I can't believe how lucky we are! If that dragon hatches and imprints on you, there is nothing the older dragons can do to stop him from going back with you."

"Like a duck?" Matthew asked.

"Pretty much," Kitty replied as a crack appeared on the shell of the egg. The pieces of the onyx shell fell away and eventually burst to reveal a small black dragon with piercing blue eyes that immediately locked onto Matthew's reflective white ones. It squeaked and waddled towards Matthew, getting a feel for its new legs. As Matthew picked up the baby dragon, he and Kitty heard an ear-splitting roar from behind them. It seemed that the dragons weren't going to make this easy.

"Run!" Kitty shouted as Matthew stood up with the baby dragon still in his arms. The ground shook and a giant blue dragon walked out of one of the largest holes, a look of anger in its eyes. It roared again and the temperature seemed to rise. Kitty seemed to know what was going to happen and tackled Matthew to the dirt just as blue-white flames licked the air just inches over their head. They scrambled to their feet and began to run, but stopped when they hit the edge of the plateau.

"What now?"

"Jump!" replied Kitty.

She jumped off of the cliff, landing on one of the ledges below. Matthew followed suit and soon they were jumping from ledge to ledge like a couple of mountain goats. The baby dragon was enjoying itself, squeaking happily every time Matthew jumped down to a new ledge. He began to think it enjoyed the feeling of freefall. The mother dragon, however, was not so pleased. It felt the need to send flames within feet of them every few seconds as she climbed straight down the face of the mountain, which kept them on the move. When the ground leveled out enough for them to run on, they did so. The adult dragon chasing them never felt the need to fly after them, so she must have not considered them a threat. She just continued chasing them on foot. Kitty and Matthew rain until they hit grass, then they started to tire because of the air, and the mother started to gain on them. Matthew stopped and spun around, handing the baby dragon to Kitty. He was going to have to stop this bitch eventually; Kitty needed time to shift dimensions and probably couldn't do it with a dragon breathing fire on her. The tiny black dragon squeaked angrily and nipped at Kitty until she put it on the ground. It watched Matthew intently as he faced the beast. It stomped towards him then ground to a halt a mere twenty feet away and growled at him. "The baby wants to go with me. Now leave us alone or I swear I will hurt you."

_A snowball has a better chance in hell._

"Oh so you can talk? Let me just tell you something. I've seen what you're capable of. You know nothing about me. How do you know I won't strike you down right now?"

_Because you are just a child and even an adult of your species is no match for me._

"Me and Kitty here are a new breed of our species; you couldn't hope to defeat us."

Kitty backed up a step. "I'm staying out of this one. I didn't have this much trouble with Lockheed."

_Just try me then child. If you are not human, then what are you?_

"Let's see if you can kill a ghost!"

Matthew disappeared, and a wind picked up, ruffling the adult dragon's wings. The baby looked around confused, wondering where Matthew went. Matthew threw the biggest telekinetic punch he could at the dragon and it reared back, but mostly from fright. Spooked, the dragon flapped its wings and took off back towards the mountain. The wind died down and Matthew reappeared. The baby squeaked and waddled over to Matthew, who picked it up.

"Matthew, that was amazing. Was that all talk?"

Matthew let out a sigh of relief as he caught his breath and nodded.

"It was so convincing though. And you scared the dragon away."

"But that was luck. If she didn't spook easily we could have been in trouble. We had no hope of taking her down; those flames were hot enough to split us into atoms, even if we were intangible."

"I guess that's true. We sure are luck aren't we?"

"Yeah we are. Now let's get back to _our_ planet, I really don't like this place much anymore."

**A/N: Okay, so maybe not that much more to the chapter. I have another chapter in the works in my head and I will work to getting it on the computer after I get off of work tomorrow. This was the one weird chapter, things won't get this bad again, I promise. Review and let me know what you think of the story.**


	8. Firestarter

Disclaimer: X-Men is a trademark of Marvel Comics. I do not claim to own any of the characters or settings used below. However, the original characters Jerry, Andrew and Sheila Tyson, and Matthew Tyson a.k.a. "Geist" belong to me.

Chapter 7: Firestarter

There was a flash of light and Kitty and Matthew were standing in the garden at the mansion. Matthew looked up at the sun and actually enjoyed the dull pain at the edges of his eyes where bits of sunlight hit them. He was just so glad to be back home. That thought seemed strange to him. He had only been here for two days and he already considered this place home. He took a deep breath and felt the rich atmosphere fill his lungs. He smiled at Kitty and she smiled right back. The small dragon in his arms squeaked. It seemed that it wanted attention too. Matthew smiled and stroked the small creature then came back to his senses. He probably shouldn't have something like this out in the open. "Kitty, let's get him inside. Do you think you can make another one of those cloaking collars?" The baby squeaked in protest.

"It'll take no time at all."

"Good. Let's go."

They started to walk back inside but the click of metal caught Matthew's attention, followed by a rush of gas and a spark that made him flinch. Memories of his house flashed in his head. "Well, well, well, if it isn't Kitty and her newest boy-toy. I don't think I know you. Who are you?" There was another click as the sound Mathew now determined to be a Zippo lighter closed. The person holding the lighter was a boy that looked to be about Bobby's age with blonde hair that stuck straight up. He flicked the lighter open again and lit it, then flicked it closed.

"John, this is Matthew. I don't appreciate you calling him my boy-toy either."

"What are you going to do about it?" he said with a smirk.

Kitty sighed and walked right through him. "Come on Matthew; let's get that little guy upstairs."

John laughed. "You can't just ignore me forever Kitty. You X-Men think you're so much better than me. I should take you all out in your sleep!"

Matthew raised an eyebrow at John as he walked by. John jumped at him a little bit, threatening to do something. "Just ignore him, Matt," said Kitty. Matthew walked away from John, leaving him standing in the garden, fuming.

When they got upstairs to Kitty's room, she immediately began working on a cloaking device for the baby dragon. "What do you think I should name him?" said Matthew.

"Well Lockheed named himself, so you should probably just wait until he decides to tell you what his name is. Another thing, how can you be sure it's a 'he'?"

"I don't know, I just assumed it would be. I just can't picture a black dragon being a girl, you know?"

_Well I am,_ said a feminine voice inside Matthew's head.

"Well would you look at that. You are a girl. What's your name then?"

_My name is Lotus. _The little dragon squeaked even as she spoke to him inside his mind.

"That's adorable," said Kitty, finishing up the touches on the cloaking collar. "Here we go, all finished. This should make you look like a small cat."

_I don't like this. Why should I hide who I am?_

"Because dragons aren't normal here. You could get hurt if someone saw you," replied Kitty, fastening the collar around Lotus' neck. She pressed a button and a small black cat was now standing on the bed, flicking her tail back and forth. _Maybe this isn't so bad; I still feel like myself, I just look different._

"That's the spirit," said Matthew. "Now, who is this John guy?" Lotus jumped on his lap as he sat on the bed.

"That is Pyro. He used to be good friends with all of us, and then Magneto convinced him that we were holding him back and twisted his mind. We rescued him from Alcatraz after Bobby knocked him out cold, but he has been less than grateful. He only sticks around because he has nowhere else to go."

"Is that right, Kitty?" said John from the doorway, clicking his lighter. "I thought it was because Storm wanted to keep me out of jail and that there was some hope for me."

"There is hope for you John; you just have to accept the rules of this place! I wish the professor were here, he could help you see things right again."

"You mean control and brainwash me, like he did to all of you? Be the good little defenders of humanity, the protectors of the inferior beings that would like nothing more than to see you arrested or dead?"

"Right now John that is just you. You and Magneto really made a negative name for yourselves out there. You're on the national most wanted list, you know that right? You should be thankful that you aren't in some maximum security prison right now."

"Oh, I'm sorry," he replied sarcastically, "Thank you for saving me from life in prison. **Like here is so much better?!**"

"If you hate it here then just leave John! God, what happened to you? You used to be a little arrogant, but you were our friend nonetheless. What did we do to you to deserve this?" there were tears in her eyes at this point, and Matthew put an arm around her to try to comfort her.

"What is your problem man? You like making girls cry?" Matthew said with a fire in his eyes.

"Stay out of this. You don't even know me."

"Then let's talk. If you have a problem with them then you have a problem with me."

"Who do you think you are? You talk a lot of shit for a guy I've never met before. You don't know what I could do to you."

"If it will shut you up and teach you a little respect, I would be glad to find out," replied Matthew. Kitty looked up with a fear in her eyes. "Matthew, don't do it. He is really powerful."

John smiled. "You should listen to her. I wouldn't want you to get hurt."

"I can take care of myself, and I can certainly take care of you," said Matthew, the temperature dropping in the room and bits and pieces of him fading in and out of existence. He felt his power begin to slip out of his control as things began to shake all over the room. John's breath became visible and his arrogant façade cracked a little. "Is this supposed to scare me? I know you couldn't handle the heat. I'm going to spare you some time in the infirmary and let this one slide. I've got my eye on you."

John turned and walked away. Kitty jumped up and clapped her hands. "That was amazing Matthew! He got scared. I haven't seen him scared, ever."

_You showed the scary man._

"Yes I did, Lotus. He shouldn't be bothering us again."

"I wouldn't count on that. He has a knack for showing up like a bad zit on prom night."

Matthew laughed. "Interesting analogy, Kitty."

She smiled. "I thought so."

"So now that that's all done and settled, we have something else to take care of."

"What's that, Matt?"

"I'm just about tired of wearing these same clothes. When does the mall open?"

Kitty looked at the bedside clock. It read ten am. "It opens in about an hour. We have to wait on Bobby anyways, I don't have a car. Why don't we get some breakfast while we wait?"

"Sounds like a plan. I'll race you there!"

Kitty and Matthew both dropped through the floor and ran down the first floor hallway towards the kitchen. Matthew let Kitty win though he didn't show it, pretending to be out of breath when she skidded around on the tile floor to face him, wearing a huge smile on her face. "Ok, you win. Now, what could be your prize," he said with a smile on his face as he wrapped his arms around her. He gave her a quick kiss and then smiled as he looked into her eyes. Bobby walked in behind them and cleared his throat. They backed off of one another, and Bobby laughed.

"Now that was funny. I knew you two had a thing for one another. What's going on?"

"Just grabbing some breakfast," said Kitty.

"You feel like going to the mall later, Bobby? We need a ride, and you're the only one I know with a license."

"That sounds like a good idea. I need to get out of the mansion for a little while anyways. Let me go get Marie up and dressed, that lazy girl would sleep all day if you let her."

Matthew laughed. "You go do that, we will be down here."

"Alright man, see you in a little bit."

Bobby walked off to go get Rogue up, and Matthew and Kitty sat down to eat. Grabbing the ingredients necessary to make cereal with his hands this time, he made himself a bowl. Kitty sat beside him with her bagel and they ate in silence until the heavy footfalls of someone coming down the stairs caught both of their attention. Matthew's adrenaline spiked as his mind thought of who it could be. He was hoping it was Logan; that Pete had slept in this morning. He really wasn't in the mood to deal with the man of steel this morning. They both let out a silent sigh when it turned out to be the blonde guy from the danger room, Sam Guthrie.

"Morning guys," he said with a smile. He grabbed an apple out of the bottom of the fridge and walked away, munching on it.

"Not much of a conversationalist is he?" said Matthew.

"I guess not. So what do you think you need from the mall?"

"A whole new set of clothes. I didn't bring anything with me when Ororo and Logan picked me up."

"Hmm," said Kitty, thoughtfully, "well we need to get you some shoes, the flip flops won't last long once summer is over. I like those jeans on you; we need to find some more like that. Maybe find some graphic t-shirts and polos too."

"Sounds like a plan. We don't have to rush through this though; I haven't been to a mall in a few years."

"Damn that sucks," said a Cajun voice from the doorway. "I enjoy the mall. Not shopping though, I don't shop unless I absolutely need something. I just enjoy watching people walk by, and practicing my card skills. It's an interesting way to make money." Remy smiled as he grabbed some instant grits and started preparing them.

"Remy, you con people?"

"I wouldn't call it a con. I use my skills to acquire money from other people."

"You have a way with words Remy," said Matthew, laughing.

"And if my car could hold any more people I'd bring you with us." Bobby said from the doorway with his arm around Rogue.

"Don't sweat it ice cube. I wasn't in the mood today anyways."

"So are y'all ready to go?" asked Matthew.

"Yeah I am, but I still feel half asleep," replied Rogue.

"Well if you wouldn't sleep all day you would be woken up like the rest of us," said Bobby.

Matthew and Kitty laughed. Matthew looked around the kitchen; it was starting to get a little crowded. Besides the five of them, the other students were coming in and getting breakfast, chatting at the counter island, and just passing through to other rooms in the mansion. Dani showed up at the edge of the kitchen and smiled when she saw him. He walked over to her and she threw her arms around him to hug him.

"Good morning to you too, Dani," said Matthew.

She smiled. "You ready to go to the mall?"

Matthew flushed a little bit. "Ugh I hate doing this, but the car that I'm going to the mall in is already full. You can still come if you want, but you have to find another way there. I'm really sorry."

Dani's smile vanished. "You said we would go together and then you pull something like this."

"I said I was sorry. Just find a ride there and you can hang out with us."

Dani slapped him on the back of the head, spun around and stormed off. Kitty walked over to him and rubbed his head where Dani slapped it. "What was that about?"

"She wanted to go with us to the mall; I told her our car was full. I said she could still go if she found a ride, but she got all pissed."

"Don't worry about her, let's just go."

They went back over to Bobby and Rogue, said goodbye to Remy, who turned his attention to showing some of the freshman kids a card trick. Bobby went ahead to go get the car out of the garage while Kitty, Rogue and Matthew went out front and waited. There was a rumble from the side of the house and then the roar of an engine as Bobby pulled up.

"Bobby, how could you possibly afford this?"

"Warren's dad gave it to me as a personal gift for saving the clinic earlier this year. He paid for all of the modifications made to the car."

Sitting in front of them, rumbling deeply as it idled in park, was a brand new 2007 Ford Mustang GT. Bright blue metallic paint, chrome, lightweight racing rims with a slight twinge of blue, racing tires, a hood scoop on the front, and a blue flame vinyl down the side, as well as a blue and white x-logo on the hood. It was beautiful. "So are you going to stare at it or are you going to get in?" said Bobby from the driver's seat. Matthew opened up the passenger side door and slid the seat up so Kitty could get in, then he got in as well. Rogue slid the seat back where it was supposed to be and climbed in the front.

"I thought maybe you two could use some air," said Bobby, pressing a button on the console. The top of the mustang retracted into the trunk, leaving them looking at the beautiful clear northern sky.

"It's a hard top convertible?"

"You know it, one of a kind. It's my favorite feature in the car."

"That's awesome. I want to see how this thing drives, let's get on the road."

Bobby revved the engine, and they took off down the road. Bobby cranked the music and they all sang along to the music. None of them seemed to notice the motorcycle with two people on it following them down the road.

**A/N: Ooh, who could these two people be? Find out in the next chapter. If you really want a good look at what Bobby's car looks like, I have a video of it on You Tube. Search for "Iceman's Car" on the site. **


	9. Revelations

Disclaimer: X-Men is a trademark of Marvel Comics. I do not claim to own any of the characters or settings used below. However, the original characters Jerry, Andrew and Sheila Tyson, and Matthew Tyson a.k.a. "Geist" belong to me.

**A/N: Y'all may be in for a surprise in this chapter. I won't say any more.**

Chapter 8: Revelations

The mustang rumbled to a stop just outside of the Westchester mall in the parking lot. The four of them got out of the car, and Matthew took the opportunity to admire it once again.

"I can't believe how lucky you are Bobby."

"Warren's dad was really grateful. I saved him millions of dollars, so he wanted to pay me back with something. Who am I to turn down a car?"

"Where is Warren anyways?" asked Kitty.

"He never stays in one place for too long, you know that. Storm has him on constant surveillance, and he is more than happy to oblige," said Bobby.

"Oh yeah, I forgot. That's too bad though, he sure was easy on the eyes," replied Kitty.

Matthew shot her a look, and she sent back an apologetic puppy face. He smiled. He just couldn't stay mad at her. He put his arm around he and Bobby and Rogue held hands as they walked inside the mall.

After they were inside and out of sight, a red motorcycle pulled into the parking lot and parked far from the mustang. The two people on the cycle climbed off and secured the helmets to the back. They began walking inside, tailing the four mutants, but staying out of sight. Just before the doors closed behind them, anyone passing by would have noticed the slight click of metal and rush of gas.

Several hours later Bobby, Rogue, Matthew and Kitty were sitting in the food court eating lunch, and Matthew was surrounded by four huge bags filled with clothes. Kitty had gone all out on helping him have a decent wardrobe to work with. He looked around at the bags and laughed.

"Was this much really necessary, Kitty?"

"Matthew, you had one outfit. That's really sad. You should really have more than this."

"I just think it's overdoing it a bit."

"You can never have too many clothes. Look, we already bought them so let's just leave it alone. You like them don't you?"

"Of course I do. So what else is there to do in this place?"

"How about catching up with old friends?" said a voice from behind Matthew.

Kitty looked up from her food and took this guy in. He stood about 5'11" and had buzzed blonde hair and green eyes. He was dressed in a blue polo and some faded jeans that fit him snugly. Matthew spun around at his voice, stood up and gave this guy a hug.

"Oh my god, Jerry what are you doing here?"

"My family is in New York for the week. What are you doing here? I never figured I would see you out of the south."

"These guys came and got me. I'm going to school at Xavier's."

"I've been looking into that. It seems like a really good school."

"It's a school for mutants. You wouldn't exactly fit in."

_What, you think you're the only one with talent?_

"No way, you're a—"

"Yep, I sure am. The powers didn't show up until after I moved. My parents don't know; they weren't exactly fans of what happened to your family. They somehow think you caused it."

"That's crazy. I tried to save them!" Matthew said. A tear rolled down his cheek, but he quickly regained his composure.

"So are you going to introduce us Matt, or are you going to continue to pretend we don't exist?" asked Rogue.

"Oh man, I'm sorry. Jerry, these are my friends from school. This is Bobby, Marie, and Kitty. Guys, this is Jerry, my old childhood friend. I hadn't seen him in forever."

"Well that's all fine and dandy, but I still don't enjoy being ignored," replied Kitty.

"I'm sorry." Matthew put an arm around Kitty and kissed her on the forehead. Jerry raised an eyebrow at this but decided not to ask.

"So, what do you do, Jerry?" asked Bobby.

"I'm a telepath, and I also have some limited future sight. Basically if things remain exactly how they are right now I can predict what will happen in a little while. And if something changes, I can see the future change. It definitely took some getting used to, seeing as if I concentrate on my power, I can't see the present."

"That's awesome."

"So what do you see now?" asked Kitty.

Jerry's stare went distant, then his brow furrowed and he snapped back to reality. "This isn't good. All I could se were flames and screaming. It looked like right where we were standing too."

"Oh god that is something Pyro would do. How much time do we have?"

"I don't know. I can never tell how long it will be until these visions come to pass. It varies from time to time."

Even as Jerry said that the mall seemed to darken. Thunder crashed and lightning shot across the sky, lighting up the food court's glass ceiling. Voices echoed around them and immediately Bobby, Rogue and Kitty shot looks at Matthew. "It isn't me, I swear. And what's up with this weather? Is storm here and pissed off?"

"This is starting to scare me a little bit. I don't think storm would do this. It's someone else."

"Wait, Kitty what are you afraid of?"

She eyed the ceiling nervously. "Right now, this is what I'm scared of. I guess I've always been scared of getting hit by lightning. It hit my house when I was little."

"I knew it. It's Dani, she is probably with John."

The lightning increased and the voices got louder. Matthew cringed as he heard things that sounded like explosions going off, and they were getting closer. Bobby heard them too and turned his head in the direction of the commotion. "That's John. It has to be, he has never been the sneaky one. I swear he can't go a minute without showing off."

There were screams as bits of plaster exploded and the plants in the median of the walkway caught fire. "He's close," said Jerry.

"Kitty, Rogue, get out of here. I don't want y'all to get hurt."

Kitty nodded. "Not to mention, we just spend all this money on clothes, we wouldn't want them to go up in flames."

Rogue laughed, and then she got serious. "We will be in the car. Be careful sweetie." She kissed Bobby on the cheek then picked up two bags and ran. Kitty did the same with Matthew. The explosions were getting closer and Jerry turned to Matthew and asked, "So what's the plan?"

"I'm not sure. Bobby, can you take Pyro down?"

"Maybe, but I'm going to need your help. Can you draw the humidity in here from outside?"

"Sure. Jerry, we need you to take care of Dani. Is your telepathy strong enough to block her illusions?"

"I haven't really tested it out. I would say I'm about sixty percent sure I can do it."

"Better than nothing," said Bobby. And as pieces of plaster and dust rained around them he added, "Let's do this."

Matthew drew the moisture in from outside and Bobby iced himself over. As John and Dani came into sight, Matthew went invisible. John was smiling, but Dani looked less than happy. Matthew ventured closer as the two continued to approach Bobby and Jerry.

"Well, hello ice cube, where's ghost boy? And who is this guy?" John asked with a smile.

Dani materialized a bow and arrow and pulled it back, ready to shoot at anyone who moved. Matthew wrapped his mind around the arrow. He would catch it should she happen to use it.

"He isn't here right now; please leave a message after the beep. And this," he looked at the blonde boy, "this is Jerry."

"Very funny; you're a comedian now, are you? I didn't know ice could be funny."

Matthew looked at John's hands; there was a fireball in each of them. You could cut the tension between the two of them with a knife.

"John, I have to ask you something," said Bobby. He started freezing over the floor, the temperature of the ice causing the tiles to crack. "Why did you leave everyone to go with Magneto?"

"Because you all were holding me back. All of your stupid rules and that douche bag leader Xavier. He never got his hands dirty like Erik did. He just sent you out to do his dirty work while he sat in his mansion like the pompous ass he was."

Bobby glared at John. "Don't you ever insult the professor like that again."

Jerry talked to Matthew through telepathy. _Things are looking better for us. I just checked and I saw the three of us walking out of here alive._

_That's good. What happens to John and Dani?_

_I'm not entirely sure. Hopefully they won't be hurt too badly._

Hearing this good news, Matthew chose to break the stalemate. He hit Dani in the face with a telekinetic blast and she fell backwards, shooting the arrow into the glass ceiling. The glass shattered and crashed all around them, and John glared at Bobby. "I knew he was here!" John launched a flame thrower and Bobby countered with an ice beam, the two forces collided and were held in balance, each side trying to get a handle on the other by upping their power. Pretty soon the ravaged interior of the mall was covered in mist from the evaporated moisture. _Matthew, I have an idea. Break the floor. It might cause John to falter._

_Great idea Jerry. It should be easy now that Bobby froze it over._

Seeing as Dani was still unconscious from the blow he dealt her, Matthew went visible again and concentrated more of his power on the floor around Pyro. It had thawed out because of the flames but the floor was still cracked in places and it was better than nothing. The tiles shifted and John noticed. His head whipped around to see Matthew and Bobby seized his opportunity. He dropped the temperature around the two of them to close to absolute zero for a second, snuffing out John's flames. Even fire won't burn at that temperature. Matthew knocked John out and Bobby returned his temperature to normal, melting the ice on his clothes.

"Let's get them out of here," said Jerry.

"Good idea. He might be a sadistic son of a bitch, but my friend is still in there somewhere and I'm not going to leave him to the cops."

Matthew went over to Dani and hoisted her over his shoulder. Bobby picked up John in his arms. The three of them walked out of the battered and destroyed mall, escaping in the mustang just as the distant sounds of police sirens echoed up the road.

The overcrowded mustang pulled into the garage of the mansion some time later, the doors opening and teenagers spilling out like clowns out of those tiny little cars at the circus.

"Remind me never to go to the mall with you again," said Rogue.

"The mall wasn't so bad Rogue; it was just the panic that ensued while we were there. And of course, the cramped ride home," replied Kitty.

"Let's get these two downstairs. I think they both probably need to be looked at," said Matthew.

"I'll go get Storm."

Bobby turned and jogged away as Jerry and Matthew lugged the two unconscious teens downstairs to the medical bay. Jerry looked around in wonder that something so normal-looking as the mansion could hide things like this. Kitty and Rogue laughed when he exclaimed his wonder over such a marvel of engineering.

Several minutes later Storm was downstairs, examining Dani and John. "You really dealt some damage out, Matthew. They should be fine, but they need some rest. And I think it's best that we keep them away from the other students until we can determine why they acted out like this. Ugh, this would be so much easier if the professor were here."

_Don't count me out just yet, Ororo,_ came Xavier's voice from nowhere.

"That's not possible," said Kitty. "Jean killed him. Logan saw it with his own two eyes."

"I should have known the professor wouldn't go out that easy," added Bobby with a smile.

"Professor, where are you?" asked Storm.

_Closer than you think._ That was the reply as Matthew heard footfalls coming down the subterranean hallway. A man soon stood in the doorway and Ororo's mouth dropped. The professor looked a little bit different than he normally did, but it was still him nonetheless. It was the body of the man with no consciousness that the professor had shown to her a few days before he died. But he had been altered somehow, and he resembled the professor much more than when he was lying in the hospital bed. Ororo was having such a hard time grasping that fact that the professor was still alive that she hadn't realized that the man standing before them walked into the room.

"Charles, is that really you?" He nodded and she ran to him and gave him a huge hug. Kitty and Rogue were shedding tears of joy, and Bobby was choking them back. Matthew didn't quite understand how they felt; he hadn't known the professor before he died. He could only imagine what it must be like to be staring at someone you knew to be dead.

"I-I don't get it professor," said Bobby, choking back sobs, "how could you possibly have survived?"

"I will get into that later, Bobby. Now, who are these two young men?" He walked over and shook Matthew's hand, then Jerry's. "My name is Professor Charles Xavier. I am the founder of this school. And you are?"

"I'm Matthew, and this is Jerry. We're new here."

Xavier laughed. "Well, that is obvious. Now what happened to John and this girl here?"

Matthew lowered his head a little. "That was me, sir. I had to stop them before they hurt anyone else."

"Matt, don't take all the heat for this. I was part of this too, professor," said Bobby.

"We were hoping you could help figure out why they acted out like this, Charles."

"That will take some time. Let's just let them rest. There are things to be done around here."

Matthew smiled. "Yeah, like getting my stuff out of the car."

**A/N: Like what is happening so far? Come on, y'all had to see Xavier coming back at some point in the story…it wouldn't be X-Men without him. Be sure to review, I appreciate the feedback.**


	10. Old Enemies and New Arrivals

Disclaimer: X-Men is a trademark of Marvel Comics. I do not claim to own any of the characters or settings used below. However, the original characters Jerry, Andrew and Sheila Tyson, and Matthew Tyson a.k.a. "Geist" belong to me.

**A/N: The "New Arrivals" mentioned in the title won't be OC's, just characters that should have been on the X-Men that didn't show up in the movies. You won't be disappointed.**

Chapter Nine: Old Enemies and New Arrivals

Matthew grunted as he lifted two of the bags out of the trunk and lifted the other two with his mind. He lugged the bags all the way upstairs and started putting them away in his once empty dresser, whose drawers were filling quickly, thanks to Kitty's fashion sense. He left out some of them to try on, and once everything else was put up, he changed out of his dirty black t-shirt and jeans, and into a short sleeve, black polo, a pair of khaki shorts, and put his flip flops back on. Placing his sunglasses back on his head, he opened his door to leave and there was Kitty, just about to knock on the door. She had something in her hand but Matthew couldn't really tell what it was.

"It's all finished Matt; I knew it wouldn't take long."

"Wait, what's finished?"

"The breathing unit you asked me to make for you. I had been working on it little by little in my spare time and I just finished it. Here, let's see if it works." She handed Matthew a facemask, and as he put it on he found out it wrapped all the way around the bottom of his head. There was a click as it fastened, a prick on the back of his neck, and a slight hiss as it pressurized. The mask completely covered the lower half of his face, from the top of the bridge of his nose down to the top of his neck. Matthew looked in the mirror at himself, he looked menacing in it. He looked more creature than human, thanks to the design on the outside of the mask. It was simple yet effective, with the part in front of his mouth sectioned off and accented with upward facing " " markings, tubes etched into the bottom of the jaw line, framing the mask. It also hugged his cheeks, giving his face a slightly sunken in look. Matthew stared at what a change of appearance it gave him for a moment longer before he heard the taping of Kitty's foot.

"Alright, let's see if this thing works. Don't get impatient on me."

Matthew went invisible and phased, and then tried to breathe. There was a click as the mask activated and his air recycled, allowing him to breathe in a state of intangibility. He returned to normal and tried to take the mask off. There was no seam in the back of the mask.

"Kitty, what's this about?"

"Oh yeah, that's a cool little feature I designed into the mask. What you need to do is think about taking it off."

"Okay…" Matthew thought about the mask coming off, and the part in front of his mouth slid to the bottom and then the mask split in half and retracted towards the back of his neck, then rolled up and extended down the front of his chest and connected again, resembling a necklace. "I have to give it to you Kitty; that was impressive. How did you do this in a day?"

"I'm very sneaky. And I'm quick with my work."

Matthew just smiled. He was impressed, but he also wondered where she found the time. They had spent almost no time apart yet she had the time to build an extraordinarily complex device that not only allowed him to breathe while phasing but it responded to his brain's synapses telling it when to retract and conceal itself as a necklace around his neck. Kitty smiled back at him.

"So you like it?"

"Yeah I do. I really appreciate this."

_Matthew, could you please come down to my office?_ Charles Xavier's voice echoed inside his head as Matthew looked at Kitty to see if she heard it. She looked at him funny; she must not have heard a thing. "I've got to go. Xavier wants me in his office."

"I'll come with you. I'm dying to see how this man returned from the dead."

Matthew laughed. They walked through the door and down the hallway. They actually took the stairs this time and then turned towards the headmaster's office, which once again belonged to Professor Xavier. As they both passed through the doorway, they realized that they were pretty much the last ones to show up. The normally spacious office was crowded with people who were anxious to hear about how Xavier cheated death. Among them were Jerry, Bobby, Logan, Rogue, Ororo, Pete, the Ambassador Hank McCoy, an older gentleman he assumed was Magneto judging from what he had glimpsed on the news, and three other people he didn't recognize at all. One was an older woman in a white coat, the next was a young woman with short brown hair, and the last was a tall blonde boy that looked to be about seventeen, wearing a white linen button up shirt and a pair of madras shorts. With Kitty and Matthew in the room now too, it made for quite the crowd.

"Now that everyone is here, I am sure you all have questions for me."

There was assorted chatter as people bombarded the professor with questions. _One at a time, please,_ he announced to the room telepathically. Kitty was the first to speak up.

"Professor, how did you come back from the dead?"

Xavier laughed. "Kitty, I never died. Do you remember that day in ethics when I showed you the man with no consciousness? Well you are looking at him right now, thanks to my good friend Moira here." He pointed to the older woman in the lab coat.

"What is Magneto doing here?" asked Logan.

"He and Ms. Darkholme here," he pointed to the younger woman, "will be teaching as professors here in the fall. Seeing as they have both been given the cure, they will be able to pass their knowledge on, without harm to you all, in return for sanctuary here."

"Are you kidding me? These two are mutant terrorists! What could they possibly be teaching the students?" asked Ororo.

"Erik will be teaching military history and tactics and Raven will teach gymnastics, computer programming and martial arts."

Ororo seemed to be satisfied with those answers and calmed down. Bobby chose to perk up at this point.

"Wait a minute, that's Mystique? Not bad for someone who was blue once." Rogue slapped Bobby on the chest and Mystique glared at him.

"I might not have my powers anymore but I could still kick your ass hand to hand, boy."

"What is going to happen to Pyro?" asked Matthew.

"I am keeping him in a state of unconsciousness until a solution can be reached." He turned to Magneto. "Erik, you could probably reason with him to be civil. If you can't then I may be forced to wipe out his memory of his time spent away from us so his sense of reality will return to normal."

"Charles, you can't be serious. You have always been a big supporter of mutant rights and this just doesn't seem right," said Dr. McCoy.

"I don't see any other possibilities, Henry. A prison wouldn't hold him—any friction could create a spark that he could amplify and use to escape whatever enclosure he might be in. The cure is completely out of the question, so these are the choices that we are left with."

"So is Dani going to meet the same fate?" asked Jerry.

"No, no, of course not. She is much less unstable than Mr. Allerdyce. From what I can tell she was just very angry with Matthew here."

Matthew blushed. He felt horrible that it was because of him that she was lying unconscious on a bed in the infirmary. Pete, who had been silent all this time, decided to ask a question.

"Okay then, who is the surfer guy? There is something familiar about him I just can't shake."

Xavier opened his mouth to answer but the young man cut him off. "My name is Alex Summers, better known as Havok."

There was a general gasp in the room besides the former brotherhood, Jerry and Matt. Apparently this guy was big news. Matthew leaned over to Kitty and whispered, "So what's the big deal with this guy?"

He wasn't sure if Xavier heard them or if he was just answering what Matthew thought before he said it, but he replied nonetheless, "Alex was Scott's brother, Matthew. Scott was like family to the X-Men, I was very lucky to have found him on my way here."

"I heard the waves were good on the east coast," Alex added.

Matthew laughed. "Someone lied to you."

Xavier stood up and clasped his hands together. "I hope that this has been helpful in clearing up some things. Matthew, could you stay, along with Bobby and Hank please?"

The three men lingered in Xavier's office until everyone else had gone. "What's this about, Charles?" asked Hank.

"I want to further discuss what will happen to Pyro. Erik has been cooperative in working with us, and surprisingly so has Mystique, but John refuses to return to the way he was."

"This surprises me too," said Hank. "John refuses to believe that he has people who want to be his friends and to help him get wherever he wants to go in life. When I went down to the infirmary he was constantly muttering 'you're holding me back.' It troubles me, Charles. I don't see any rational way to go about returning him to the way he was. His mind is so twisted; I fear he may be on the brink of insanity."

"Professor, I hate to say it, but you have to do what you proposed a few minutes ago. I miss having the old John around," said Bobby.

"Wouldn't that be dangerous though? Isn't there some risk that his memories could be completely wiped out?"

"There is a small chance that that could happen Matthew, and I am confident enough in my skills to not only remove the twisted memories but replace them with healthy ones," replied Xavier.

Hank sighed. "I don't agree with this, but it seems we don't have a choice unless we want to see him behind bars or in a padded room somewhere."

"Well if we all agree on this, then I will go get to work on it. It may take some time. Let everyone know that I am not to be disturbed."

The three of them nodded and Matthew and Bobby left Xavier's office. Hank stayed behind with Xavier. The two boys were almost back to the mansion's foyer when they heard the older men leave the office and enter the lift to the lower levels of the mansion. Bobby and Matthew went out of the front doors and then walked in the late afternoon sun until they came upon Kitty, Rogue, Pete, Remy, Jerry and Alex.

"Come on, show us!" pleaded Kitty.

"What's all this about?" asked Matthew.

"Jerry can sense this guy's power but he won't show us what it is," replied Rogue.

"I don't feel like it," said Alex.

Pete activated his power, covering himself in steel. "What if you were provoked?" He pushed Alex.

Alex recoiled a bit. "You don't want to do that, I don't want to hurt you."

Pete laughed. "Try me." He pushed Alex again.

"Pete, stop it!"

"Stay out of this Kitty."

Pete pushed Alex a third time, knocking him to the ground. Alex sighed. "Fine, you really want to see; prepare for the worst of it."

Everyone backed up as Alex got up and stared Pete down. Alex's hands began to glow and Pete braced himself, raising both of his arms to block if need be. Alex raised an arm at Pete, the air around his hands beginning to shimmer. Golden energy lanced from Alex's hand and hit Pete square in the chest. Even at his weight and toughness, he was thrown back fifty feet and a hole was burned through his shirt. He got up to his feet, panting as he struggled to get his breath back.

"And you're lucky that you're metal, Pete. A blast of that force would have blown a hole in anything else. And I took it easy on you."

Pete scowled and walked away. It would seem that a blow like that humbled him a little bit. Rogue laughed. "You're more like Scott than you could know."

"So you can control the strength of those things?" asked Bobby.

"Yeah; it took forever to learn though. From what I heard my brother never learned how to control his at all?"

"It took some help from the professor, but no, not really."

"Well my brother's power was a bit different than mine. Scott's beams were pure kinetic energy. Mine are just waves of energy that superheat the air and turn it into plasma. When it hits things, they explode or blast back, so it looks like our powers are pretty similar."

"Cool, so are you going to be staying here?" asked Kitty.

"I'm not sure. My foster family just thinks I'm on vacation. I believe that's up to the professor. He could probably convince them to let me stay here."

"So who's this guy?" asked a voice from behind the group. They all turned around, and there was Dani. She must have woken up. Rogue, Bobby, Kitty and Matt backed up a little bit.

"Its ok guys, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm sorry about earlier, I don't know what came over me."

There was a general silent sigh as they heard that she was back to normal. Just so there was no confusion, Matthew took Kitty's hand and held it. Dani noticed and there was an acceptance in her eyes that meant she wouldn't give him any more trouble. Alex walked up to Dani, looked down at her, and smiled. At 6"0', Alex was a great deal taller than anyone else around.

"I'm Alex Summers. And you are?"

"Danielle Moonstar, but you can call me Dani."

"Nice to meet you Dani," said Alex, smiling again. Matthew nudged Kitty.

"Do you see the chemistry between them?"

She smiled and whispered back, "It's cute."

There was a silence for a minute until Bobby decided to amuse himself by creating a small ice sculpture on the ground. A minute or so later there was a rose made of pure ice suck in the grass, which Bobby picked and handed to Rogue. She laughed; apparently Bobby wasn't prone to bits of randomness like this.

"I had to do something to break the silence," he said, laughing now as well.

Jerry, who hadn't said a thing since Matthew got there, winced. "Something is happening in the mansion, guys."

"What is it?" asked Matthew.

"I don't know exactly, but its pain, coming from the basements."

"Do you think John could have woken up and hurt the professor?" asked Kitty.

"I don't know, but let's find out," replied Rogue.

They ran across the grounds and into the mansion, down the hallways and into the lift. It was packed as they all managed to fit in there at once. When the doors opened again, they fell out of the elevator. As they got up, they were greeted by an empty hallway. The professor was nowhere to be found, and the only thing they could hear was the soft clicking of metal.

**A/N: What could have happened to the professor? I should start working on the next chapter later today. I'll update soon. Don't forget to review.**


	11. Burns Healed

Disclaimer: X-Men is a trademark of Marvel Comics. I do not claim to own any of the characters or settings used below. However, the original characters Jerry, Andrew and Sheila Tyson, and Matthew Tyson a.k.a. "Geist" belong to me.

Chapter 10: Burns Healed

The small click of metal caught Matthew's attention. It meant John was awake, which in turn meant one of two things: the professor was gone, that Pyro had killed him, and that he wasn't coming back this time. The other possibility was that the professor had done what he said he would do and that John was back to the way he should be. The seven others besides Matthew turned their heads in the direction of the small yet ominous sound in the empty and silent hallway.

"John?" called Bobby, hoping to not get a reply.

There was another click of metal, putting everyone on edge. With the hallway being so crowded John could take them all out with a single shot. It would be like shooting fish in a barrel. Matthew heard footsteps coming from the infirmary, and as John turned the corner he could almost taste the tension in the air. He looked different, Matthew noticed. Instead of his usual scowl for being here when he didn't want to be, there was a look of indifference. He looked at Bobby, who smiled.

"Hey guys, what's up?"

"John? Are you…ok?"

"Why wouldn't I be? You're being weird, Rogue."

Rogue laughed. "That's John, alright."

"Where's the professor?" asked Matthew.

"I'm right here," the professor said from the hallway behind John.

The tension in the hallway seemed to physically lighten as everyone silently agreed that the situation was alright. John eyed them all, confused, trying to figure out what he had done to make them all so on-edge. Xavier walked over behind John and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"John, I think it's time we get you back upstairs. That cold you had is all better."

John nodded and the two of them got into the elevator, while everyone else stared at them until the doors closed.

"Wow, I can't believe it worked," said Matthew.

"I can't believe the professor would do something like that," added Kitty.

"It isn't the first time he did something like this to protect everyone else. Remember Jean?"

"Bobby has a point," said Rogue. "Y'all think this could backfire?"

Dani shook her head. "This is different. Jean had her powers repressed; all the professor did was a selective memory wipe."

"Memory modifications are usually pretty safe," said Alex with a nod.

"I'll keep an eye on him," said Remy.

"Maybe I should ask the professor?" asked Jerry.

"That sounds like a good idea," replied Matthew.

Professor, is John safe to be around? Jerry asked.

The response might as well have been audible because they all heard it in their heads. _Absolutely, he is no different now than the day before he left. _

So what all does he know?

He remembers nothing of his time with Magneto. He knows all about Alcatraz, but as far as he knows he helped us defeat Magneto and escaped with the rest of us. Hank is going to have a talk with the president and convince him to take John off of the "most wanted" list.

Kitty looked at Rogue. "Well that's good news."

"He might still be unstable though," said Bobby. "You remember how he used to be?"

"Still he is nothing compared to how he was after Magneto twisted his mind."

"Yeah, he's our friend again. We're no longer 'holding him back' like he said we were," said Kitty.

It seems that you all are quite excited about having your friend back, but I would appreciate you all coming back up to the surface floors of the mansion. You shouldn't be down on the sub levels without a teacher.

Matthew laughed. "Maybe we should listen to him. I'm hungry anyways. Who wants dinner?"

They all agreed and squeezed into the elevator to go back up to the public face of the facility.

---------------------

Several hours later Matthew and Kitty were sitting on the couch in the dark, watching TV. Bobby and Rogue were sitting beside them, not really paying any attention. It had been such a long day the four of them were dozing in and out, the girls resting their heads on the boys' shoulders. As Matthew's eyes closed, there was a dream waiting for him. There was the high pitched whine of machinery in the background, the wind-like sound of blowtorches and the low rumble of footsteps landing in unison. The dark figure walked along a catwalk high above everything, observing the controlled chaos. "Sinister," the figure said, "how is the progress coming?"

The figure turned to a man sitting at a control panel. Matthew could see this man quite clearly. He had snow white skin but jet black hair, and a red diamond tattooed onto his forehead. The man, known as Sinister, replied, "Things are going better than planned, my master. We are days ahead of schedule."

"And what of the boy?"

Sinister laughed. "The American? I dispatched Sunfire to take care of him. His entire house was destroyed and the local authorities found no trace of him. The media is writing it off as an accident."

"Good, good, that is better than I expected. Things are moving smoothly, I see. You may continue, Sinister."

The dark figure turned around and walked away, his laughter drowned out by the sound of machinery as he walked away into the darkness.

-------------------

Matthew awoke in his room some time later, not quite sure how he got there. Bobby was there as well, but he was alone in his bed and asleep. He looked around, confused, trying to figure out what he had just seen. It was definitely more coherent than his last dream. There had been someone named Sinister, and that same dark figure, whose laughter was the same. The project they had been working on was making some serious progress, seeing as in his last dream, Matthew saw only the beginnings of what he assumed were the figure's minions. The time span was strange though, because he was sure the boy that Sinister and the figure were talking about was him. It was strange that the situation they were discussing was identical to what happened to him three years ago. Could these dreams be a glimpse into the past? He would have to ask the professor in the morning. He lay back down and stared at the ceiling but found his eyes unable to close. He turned over and faced the window, watching the stars disappear one by one as the sky began to lighten.

At some point he fell asleep, because the next thing Matthew knew he felt the heat of the morning sun on his face and heard Bobby moving around in the room. He put on his sunglasses and opened his eyes. Bobby was standing in front of the closet, staring at his clothes.

"They won't just jump on you, you know," said Matthew with a laugh.

"Shut up man. What happened to you last night? I mean we were all sleepy, but you knocked out cold on the couch for a while. Kitty had to phase through you to get out from under you. I carried your heavy ass back up here and you're just now waking up? Damn, man."

Matthew yawned. "What time is it?"

"It's just after eleven."

"Wow I did sleep for a while. Wait, why aren't you dressed?"

"I felt like sleeping in today too. Only difference is I went to bed later than you."

Matthew laughed. "Whatever you say, Bobby. I'm going to go talk to the professor about these dreams I keep having."

"You mean Sinister?"

Matthew whipped around from getting dressed. "How do you know that name?"

"Easy there Matt, it's just something you kept uttering in your sleep as I was carrying you up to your bed."

Matthew seemed to calm a bit and continued getting dressed. He slid on a pair of clean jeans, a short sleeve white polo and his sandals then walked through the door of the room. The dorm hallway was crowded with students; he had to constantly dodge the younger ones who really didn't know any better. He tried his best not to phase through people, but he had to once or twice when people just weren't watching where they were going and he had no other choice. He walked downstairs and into the professor's office. Xavier was sitting behind his desk, his fingers folded, his head down and eyes closed, as if concentrating intensely one something. Without even looking up he said, "Hello Matthew."

"I guess what I've heard about you isn't wrong, is it professor?"

Xavier just smiled. He looked Matthew right in the eyes and Matthew felt strange; like he had something on his mind but just couldn't place it. "What can I help you with today?"

"I was hoping you could read my mind. I have had dreams troubling me lately and I've been losing sleep over them."

Xavier nodded and waved Matthew over to a chair. Matthew sat down and Xavier sat behind him placing his hands on either side of Matthew's head. Matthew sat there for a moment while Xavier rooted through his memories and dreams. There was a twinge of pain as Xavier dragged the Sinister dream to the surface of his mind and Matthew saw it again in his eyes. Xavier lowered his hands after a few minutes and walked around back around his desk.

"Well?" asked Matthew.

"The dreams could be actual events, but they are events already past, as far as I can tell you do not have any future sight ability, unlike your friend Jerry."

"If they are real, then who is this Sinister?"

"His name is Nathaniel Essex. He is a brilliant geneticist, a very powerful mutant, and my old college classmate."

A look of surprise came across Matthew's face. _Why would someone I've never met want me dead,_ Matthew wondered to himself.

"I couldn't tell you. But I will find out who that figure is. It should help give us some insight into what Mr. Sinister has planned."

"Thank you professor."

Matthew got up and left as the professor walked out of his office as well and took the lift downstairs. Matthew went and got himself some lunch, eating quietly as the other students passed through the kitchen. Just as he was almost finished, Matthew heard a click of metal as John walked into the kitchen.

"Good morning, Matt."

"Morning, John. What are you up to today?"

"I'm not entirely sure. I'm just glad I'm feeling better."

Matthew stared at his plate. "You and me both, John."

"So what are you doing today?"

"Waiting on the professor to figure my head out. I've been having these weird dreams lately; he said he would help me."

John looked at Matthew inquisitively. "Don't you think it's weird that he's in our heads all the time? He's so strong that we don't even realize it. He knows everything that goes on around here."

"Well that's good, don't you think? Nothing goes unnoticed, nothing can surprise us."

"No, nothing can surprise him. The rest of us are on a need to know basis."

"You shouldn't say things like that John; he gave us a home. We would be on the street without him."

John looked over Matthew's shoulder at something he couldn't see. "Yeah I guess…but I still think it's a little strange. I wouldn't mind a little privacy though. The idea that my thoughts aren't private scares me a little bit."

Matthew shrugged, got up, and put his dishes in the dishwasher. _Matthew, could you please report to my office?_

"See you later John, the professor wants to talk to me."

"Later, Matthew."

Matthew walked back down the now almost empty hallway—the students must be outside playing in the sunshine—towards the professor's office. As he walked through the door the professor was waiting for him.

"Have a seat Matthew."

Matthew sat down and asked, "What did you find out?"

"Essex is in Egypt, at Giza to be more precise. There is someone else with him, though cerebro couldn't detect exactly who. Under normal circumstances I would have blamed Erik, but he is here and a human now. So this dark figure in your dream is just a mystery to me as it is to you. We may just have to wait until Sinister's plans reveal themselves."

"That isn't exactly what I wanted to hear professor."

"I know it isn't, Matt. But we can't know everything. Just go about life like normal, events will reveal themselves eventually and we will be prepared."

"If you say so," Matthew replied, rolling his eyes as he got up and walked away. As he left the office, he almost ran into Kitty. Without a word said Matthew kissed her, and they held hands as they walked outside and into the sunshine.

A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update with a shorter chapter than normal, the servers on the site have been screwy. Lucky for me I found a way around it. I'm gonna get started on the next chapter ASAP. The main plot of the story is just around the corner. Don't forget to review.


	12. The Ghosts of War

Disclaimer: X-Men is a trademark of Marvel Comics. I do not claim to own any of the characters or settings used below. However, the original characters Jerry, Andrew and Sheila Tyson, and Matthew Tyson a.k.a. "Geist" belong to me.

**A/N: I do believe a recap is in order. So basically Matthew has arrived at the mansion, Kitty left Pete, John is back to normal, and Xavier is alive again. Something big is going to happen, but even cerebro can't help Xavier see what will happen next. **

Chapter 11: The Ghosts of War

Over the next few weeks, life returned to normal around the mansion, or at least as normal as a school for mutants could be. Pyro was welcomed back to the X-Men and was given a uniform with red accents. At Matthew's request, another team danger room session was set up, this time the situation dealing with a massive number of close proximity combatants. The team performed well; eliminating every enemy with minimal injuries on their side. Matthew was officially named part of the team, as well as Remy, Dani, Alex, Sam, and Jerry. Jerry, unfortunately, had to leave before he was named an X-Man, but Xavier let him know via telepathy. Matthew occasionally had another dream, but they always held no new information. Still they made Matthew uneasy, because eventually the other psychics began having the same dreams. Aside from Matthew's dreams though, things seemed to be going normal for everyone. One day though, just after the fall semester started, everything changed.

"Hey John, wait up!"

John turned around and laughed. He flicked his Zippo open as he replied, "Matt, if you don't hurry up, you're never going to make it to class on time."

"I overslept. I have to remember to set my alarm at night."

"You need to stop having those damn dreams so you can get some sleep at night."

Matthew just laughed and took stride with John. They were headed to psychology, taught by Professor Lensherr. The children hardly thought of him as Magneto anymore; he had proved himself to be civil fifty times over by now. Matthew noticed when he was angry with his class though, that his desk would wobble. Matthew thought it was coincidence at first, but after the first three times he figured maybe the cure didn't work quite as well on the more powerful mutants. When he and John arrived, the door was closed and locked.

"Shit, I told you we were going to be late!" John whispered to Matthew.

"That's never been a problem for me, has it? Come on, I will get us in there."

Matthew waited until Professor Lensherr had his back turned, then grabbed John and phased them both through the door, turning them both invisible in the process. Just as they were about to sit down, Professor Lensherr stopped writing and said, "Well hello Mr. Tyson and Mr. Allerdyce, so nice of you to join us."

Matthew returned both of them back to normal and they sat down at the table in the back. Bobby leaned over to them and whispered, "I still haven't figured out how he does that."

"Me either," replied Matthew.

"Tyson, since you are so content on disrupting my class, do you mind answering the question on the board?"

"That's alright, you keep going. You're on a roll."

The class snickered, and a scowl came over Professor Lensherr's face. "See me after class Tyson; we are going to have a little chat with Charles about your disruption."

An Asian girl Matthew knew as Jubilee turned around to the three of them and whispered, "I thought that was funny," then she added, turning to John, "Hi. I'm Jubilee. You're the kid who went insane right?"

John looked at Jubilee strangely, then thinking she must have meant when he went all "human torch" on the cops, he replied, "Yeah that's me."

Matthew let out a silent sigh. Jubilee turned around and Matthew glanced at John. He had a grin on his face that Matthew had never seen before. There was something in his eyes; something behind the usual fire that burned there. Matthew just figured events would reveal themselves to him and turned to face the board, where Professor Lensherr was continuing with his lecture on the instability of mutants caused by society. After class, Matthew hung back so he and Professor Lensherr could speak with Xavier when the others were gone. He and Matthew walked down the hall with the Professor to Xavier's office. As they were walking, he saw John and Jubilee walking in the other direction, smiling and talking. He grinned at this just before they reached Xavier's office. Professor Lensherr opened the door and Matthew went in, then Lensherr shut the door behind him.

"What can I do for you Erik?"

"I was hoping that you would have a talk with Matthew. He was continually being disruptive in my class today."

"Is this true Matthew?"

"Technically yes, but I had a reason for the first disruption."

Xavier nodded. "Please explain yourself then."

"I've been losing sleep over those dreams, you know the ones, and I overslept this morning. I tried to get into the room without Professor Lensherr knowing, but he caught me and made a scene. I retorted and there was my disruption. I'm sorry."

"You should know better than to talk back to your instructors Matt. They deserve the same respect you give me."

Matthew hung his head a little. "Yes, sir."

"Well, if that is taken care of, there is something I would like to discuss with you, Erik. You're dismissed Matthew. Hurry along to your next class. Hank will be expecting you, and will understand you being late."

"Yes sir," replied Matthew, phasing through the door. Once on the other side, he pressed his necklace in, allowing it to expand back into the mask. He phased through the solid wall and stayed inside the wall, listening to Professor Lensherr and Xavier talk.

"What is wrong, Charles?"

"You know how I have been keeping Warren on surveillance of Giza?"

"Yes, he has been there for several weeks now. Is there some new information that we need to know of?"

"Not directly from him, no, but something has happened. Warren is missing. I have been trying to contact him and have gotten nothing, and he has even disappeared from cerebro's scanners."

"How could this have happened?"

"I don't know. My guess is that Nathaniel found some way to capture Warren and is holding him prisoner."

"This isn't good. What are we going to do?"

"What can we do? We have no information on how to get into where Nathaniel is hiding. The X-Men aren't ready for this kind of operation. Except for Logan and storm, they're all just kids."

Erik lowered his head. "I can't believe this is happening."

"If he truly was captured, odds are that Nathaniel will contact us to bargain for Warren's life. Until then, we wait."

Erik, who had never been a patient one, crossed his arms over his chest. "We should still do **something,** Charles."

Xavier sighed. "Inform the students that training schedules will be doubled. We will be ready for whatever will happen."

Erik nodded and left the room. Xavier looked at the point in the blank wall where Matthew was and said, "It isn't nice to eavesdrop, Matthew."

Matthew, baffled by the Professor's power, phased through the wall and retracted his mask. "I'm sorry Professor, but I just had to know what was going on."

Xavier smiled. "Well now you know. We have a dire situation on our hands and I am trying my best to not involve the students. You are the only person who has any sort of connection to this thing, though I am not sure why. If you experience anything out of the ordinary, you report directly to me. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir. I think maybe I should tell you about the dream I had last night then. Normally my dreams are about Sinister and the dark figure, but last night it was different. I saw a dove, flying above a river of sand, but a huge dark hand snatched it right out of the sky and drove it into the dirt. When the dove got up, it was no longer a dove, but a raven. There was something ominous about this bird. It looked right at me and somehow smiled. I felt compelled to stroke the bird, and when I did, I noticed that the huge dark hand was mine. The river of sand turned to glass as if by some amazing heat source and I saw my reflection. I looked like…well you should just see for yourself."

The Professor stood up and placed a hand on Matthew's forehead. He stood there for a minute while he sifted through Matthew's dream, then pulled his hand from him as though he had been shot. He uttered just one word, "Apocalypse."

"What's 'Apocalypse?'" asked Matthew.

"It's not a what; it's a 'who.' He is supposed to be a myth, the first mutant ever."

"How is he still alive?"

"I will deal with that in a moment. For now though, I need everyone in here immediately."

Xavier sent out a mental message to the X-Men to meet him in the office and within minutes they were all there.

"What is the problem, Professor?" asked Ororo.

"We have a problem—Angel has been captured by Apocalypse."

Hank gasped. Apparently he was the only other person in the room besides the Professor who had heard of this guy.

"Who is Apocalypse?" asked Logan with a sneer.

"Whoever he is, he has Angel. We need to find him," replied Kitty with a little more enthusiasm than Matthew liked.

"Apocalypse was the first mutant ever, according to legend," said Hank. "He was born in Egypt in the time of the pharaohs."

Matthew asked once again, "How is he still alive?"

Hank walked over to the huge bookshelf lining the wall and pulled out a book entitled Egyptian History. He flipped through the pages until he came upon the one he wanted. "Here it is, En Sabah Nur, better known as Apocalypse. He lived under the rule of Rama-Tut, the pharaoh at the time. He was a sorcerer for the pharaoh, and was deemed to be an 'eternal' because of his ability to come back to life, even after death. He was able to control his body on a molecular level, able to shape-shift or change sizes as well. Early on, he was taught to be strong, and had engrained in his head the 'only the strong survive.' Using this philosophy he killed the pharaoh and everyone else he deemed to be unworthy and declared himself a god. After that though, information just stops on him. It's like he just vanished. It is because of this that Egyptologists consider him a myth."

"So this guy was the first mutant?" asked Logan.

"Yes Logan, it would seem so," replied Xavier.

"And he can't die, right?" asked Pete nervously.

"Right you are tin man," said Logan.

"How are we supposed to defeat him to get Warren back?" asked Bobby.

"I don't know, Bobby, but we need to be ready for anything. Everyone needs to suit up and report to the danger room. We will train today until we cannot anymore."

They nodded and dispersed. The Professor cancelled classes for the rest of the day—causing a ripple of cheers throughout the student body. Thank god none of them knew the reasons behind it.

-------------

Several minutes later, the X-Men waited patiently outside of the danger room as the simulation was set up. Matthew glanced around and noticed that there were no more training uniforms around him, and that the X-Men now looked like a force to be reckoned with. Storm took role out in the hall, listing off their codenames instead of their last names.

"Wolverine," she said, looking in Logan's direction.

She repeated the process with everyone else, including Iceman, Colossus, Shadowcat, Pyro, Geist, Cannonball, Moonstar, Beast, Havok and Gambit. Most of them were dressed in the standard uniform, with the exception of a few of them who made some modifications to their uniforms. Pyro had his igniter from his time spent with Magneto, though he thought Kitty designed it. Matthew had his mask on, and Gambit had his trench coat on over a more lightweight version of the uniform. The doors slid slowly open and there was an open landscape of desert dunes and a setting sun. it was beautiful, except that as the doors closed, Matthew could have sworn he heard the sound of automatic weapons fire.

"Begin the exercise," said Xavier's voice from the observation blister at the top of the room.

----------------

Meanwhile, in Egypt, anyone happening to pass by the pyramids at Giza would hear nothing. Deep below the surface, however, it was a whole different story. There was the general sound of machinery whirring, engines revving as they were tested, and the massive pounding of footsteps from drill maneuvers. Through a door at the bottom of the chamber, the dark figure known as Apocalypse walked down the hallway where Sinister was running his genetic experiments. He paused in front of a growth tube where the failed beginnings of a clone floated in the liquid inside. Just a brain and a pair of eyes, the clone blinked at him. Apocalypse heard footsteps behind him and the Sinister was there.

"How may I be of assistance?"

"What of the spy we captured?"

"He has adapted to the genetic splicing even better than hoped," Sinister replied.

Apocalypse turned to face Sinister. "Show him to me."

They continued down the hall to the end where a lone, solid metal chamber sat. Sinister kit a few keys on a computer terminal in the wall, then took his place at Apocalypse's side. The doors slowly opened, the fog of compressed air seeping out through the opening in the front.

"Angel…come forth and meet your master."

The doors completely opened and as the fog cleared, there were a pair of silver wings wrapped around the body of Angel. The wings opened and the man that owned them stared out at Apocalypse and Sinister. That man, however, was not Warren Worthington the third. His formerly tan skin was now a pale blue, his hair was gone, and the usual spark in his eyes was replaced by a flame that had never been there before.

"The name 'Angel' no longer applies."

Apocalypse did not seem surprised by this remark. "What would you have us call you?"

The man that was once Warren stepped out of the chamber and spread his now metallic wings, showing off his incredible wingspan. "I am Archangel, a horseman of Apocalypse, and I am yours to command."

Sinister turned around and walked to a surgical table, talking as he walked. "Your speed and strength have been augmented, but what of your soul?" he picked a scalpel up off of a surgical table and threw it with amazing accuracy at Archangel's face. Archangel snatched the surgical knife out of the air inches from his face and responded to Sinister.

"My soul is filled with hatred, rage, and death," he said, crumpling the scalpel in his hand with no trace of a cut, "for the X-Men."

The knife fell to the floor in a small ball. Apocalypse chuckled lightly at this. "I have a job for you Archangel, horseman of Death. The time has come to gather the other three horsemen."

"Yes, my master," Archangel replied.

After putting a small transmitter and radio in his ear, Archangel spread his wings and took flight. He was to the top of the chamber before the hatch opened, and once it was, he sped off into the clear blue sky.

**A/N: Some of you may have noticed that that last scene probably sounded a little familiar. I used the cinematic for the birth of Archangel from X-Men Legends II. It seemed to work quite well. For those of you who haven't seen it, search for my youtube profile, "R4Z0RsEDGE" and click on the birth of Archangel. There is another movie I plan to use on there for the story, but u shouldn't watch it unless you want to ruin it. I should be updating soon. I'm on a freakin roll.**


	13. Day Long Danger Room

Disclaimer: X-Men is a trademark of Marvel comics. I do not claim to own any of the characters or settings used below. However, the original characters Andrew and Sheila Tyson, Jerry, and Matthew a.k.a. "Geist" belong to me.

Chapter 12: Day Long Danger Room

A wind rolled across the sand dunes as the setting sun beat down on the barren landscape. Within minutes the X-Men were beginning to sweat. Matthew and Bobby glanced at each other and lowered the temperature around them back to a comfortable level. The group walked over the top sand dune and stared down onto the plain below. The setting sun gave everything a golden glow, including the battalion of clone soldiers performing drill exercises in the desert. There was another company of the soldiers practicing their shots with automatic rifles on a shooting range.

"I don't think they have spotted us yet," whispered Logan. Even as he said that one of the guard towers sounded an alarm and the sand in front of them exploded as a sniper shot fell short.

"Hit the dirt!" yelled Storm.

They all dropped to a prone position as another sniper shot whizzed over their heads. Gambit got up to a kneeling position and whipped back his trench coat, revealing a belt with four deck boxes on it. He opened up one of them and pulled out the ace of spades. Its metallic coating glistened in the failing light, and then it began to glow as he charged it with kinetic energy. He pulled back his arm and threw the card, which flew like a bullet right into the guard tower, which was at least 1000 feet away. The card stuck into the stone, then exploded, taking out the guard tower and the alarm with it. Any soldiers that had been ignoring the alarm weren't anymore. Automatic weapons fire peppered the sand in front of them.

"We need to get closer! Our powers are useless from this distance!" shouted Bobby over the rattle of the rifle fire.

"Stay close to me," replied Matthew. He raised a hand in front of him and put up a telekinetic wall that deflected the bullets away from the X-Men. They slowly advanced towards the clone soldiers, the others flinching when a bullet would bounce off the shield. As they got closer the gunfire got more intense, but luckily there were bits and pieces of cover. They scattered to cover and Matthew dropped the wall. Storm covered the sky in clouds, thunder rolling and lightning striking the remaining guard towers, crumbling them and engulfing them in flames. The lighting bolts began striking the troops, causing them to scatter and the machine gun fire stopped for a moment. Pyro took this opportunity to ignite his fire and torch an entire squad of troops. There were assorted screams as more of them redirected their fire toward the flame elemental. Bobby blew an icy wind in the path of the bullets, slowing them and blowing them off course. They peppered the sand a few feet to the right of Pyro.

"They're scattered and on the ropes, keep going!" shouted Logan. He and Beast charged forward, the bullets ripping through Logan's chest but healing back in seconds, pushing the bullets out. He popped his claws, slashing his way through a company of soldiers like a hot knife through butter. Even while the others were trying to find their way out from behind their cover, over fifty dead soldiers lay in Beast and Logan's wake. The soldiers were starting to lose their morale, slowly retreating back towards the pyramids in the distance. Kitty, Pete and Remy advanced towards the soldiers. Kitty left a hand on Remy to shield him from the gunfire. Pete walked slowly towards a squad of soldiers, their shots bouncing off of his metal skin. They tried hitting him with their gun, but they might as well have been hitting a wall. Pete grabbed one of the guns and broke it in half like it was a twig, then grabbed another and shot four soldiers with it.

Kitty kicked a soldier in the face, and took another's gun, shooting him with it. She provided Remy with some cover while he charged five cards that he held in his hand. Once they began to glow bright, he whispered two words to himself them threw them. They arced out across the soldiers ranks then exploded in a chain, completely covering an entire company in fire. Kitty raised both eyebrows and her jaw dropped. "What in the world did you just say?"

Remy winked at Kitty. "Straight flush."

Matthew poked his head over a dune and saw soldiers advancing on Remy and Kitty. He used his mind to rip the guns from the soldiers, turning them on their owners. Kitty whipped around and saw the fallen soldiers, their guns floating in the air. She turned in Matthew's direction and smiled.

Alex decided to make his impact, decimating a group of troops in one shot as they exploded and melted from the plasma beam that hit their ranks. As much damage as they had already done, there were still hundreds of soldiers to deal with. They still continued to fire on the team, attempting to spread the X-Men thin. The sun was almost below the horizon, and the dull pain on the edges of Matthew's vision began to lighten by the second, and as the stars quickly appeared over the darkening battlefield, Matthew slid his sunglasses off. Now the fun could really begin. He went invisible and started running right into the melee, but had to duck as Sam launched himself into a group of soldiers, bowling them over and Matthew winced as he heard the sounds of their necks and backs snap. Now that the ranks were starting to thin, Dani stepped out and extended a hand over the valley and concentrated hard. The gunfire stopped as the soldiers panicked, each of them seeing their greatest fear. Matthew, still invisible, looked back at Dani and smiled. Everyone noticed this and launched a team attack on the soldiers. Iceman froze several soldiers, Logan, Pete, Kitty and Beast continued to rip through the ranks in hand to hand, Gambit decimated rows of troops at a time, and Alex and storm continued to snipe out squads with plasma and lightning.

Matthew was picking off individual soldiers, snapping necks and turning guns on their owners. One soldier had a chance to get a transmission off, and Matthew heard it right before he phased through the soldier, taking the soldier's heart with him on the other side. "Backup! We need backup!"

Matthew swore as he was sure the pyramids heard the call for help and as the X-Men began to surround the last few soldiers. Matthew ripped the guns from the soldiers' hands and pointed them at their heads. "Give us a reason why we shouldn't kill you right now," said Logan.

If the soldiers could be smiling, they were. There were thousands of clicks around them as the primer bars of assault rifles were pulled back. Matthew pulled the triggers on the rifles, killing the last remaining squad and then the X-Men turned around to face the new threat that completely surrounded them. The soldiers encircled them, packing them into a tight group.

"Freeze! Any use of powers and we fire," said a squad leader.

Matthew looked at Bobby, who nodded and looked at Storm. There was a silent agreement between the three of them as Storm and Matthew jumpstarted he humidity in the dry desert air while Matthew covered the team in a tight, invisible telekinetic force field. The squad leader radioed back to the base.

"We have the subjects in custody," then he added after getting a reply, "we have orders to take no prisoners. Do you have any last words?"

Bobby smirked. "I have a question for you guys. Do you know what happens to sand at absolute zero?"

The soldiers looked confused for a moment and were about to answer as Bobby snapped his fingers and the temperature outside of the force field dropped to absolute zero. The soldiers flash-froze, as did the ground around them. "It freezes, just like everything else." The temperature returned to normal and Matthew dropped the field. The desert disappeared, returning to the danger room's cold metal interior. The X-Men slumped to the ground, exhausted after the several hours of training. Xavier's voice echoed in the empty room.

"Excellent job; that will be enough for today. Get some rest; dinner is in about an hour. We will resume training in the—"

His voice cut off and everyone looked up at the blister at the top of the room.

"What do you think is happening?" asked Bobby to anyone who was listening. As if the Professor were listening, he answered Bobby.

"Get up everyone, and get upstairs. Apocalypse has made the first move."

**A/N: I know it's a shorter chapter than normal, but there wasn't a lot of dialog to space it out, and I needed a cliffhanger to leave you on so you would stay interested. New chapter should be up soon, but no promises. Its exam week. Don't forget to review.**


	14. The Apocalypse

Disclaimer: X-Men is a trademark of Marvel comics. I do not claim to own any of the characters or settings used below. However, the original characters Andrew and Sheila Tyson, Jerry, and Matthew a.k.a. "Geist" belong to me.

Chapter 13: The Apocalypse

_**One hour earlier…**_

_**New York City, 6:00 P.M.**_

The sky echoed as an F-16 patrolled the city. Having spent several hours on patrol already and finding nothing, the pilot was starting to get bored. Having nothing else to report, the pilot decided to radio in the weather. "HQ this is Red-7 on patrol—we got a heavy storm front coming up but other than that, all is quiet."

Immediately after finishing his sentence Red-7's radar began beeping furiously. "Wait a minute," he said, as the beeping almost turned into a continuous sound, "We got bogeys, hundreds of 'em! HQ what are my orders—" his voice was cut off as two missiles shot out from the clouds and shot the plane down. It exploded in a ball of fire, raining debris on the city. Even before the cloud of smoke could settle, hundreds of unknown aircraft filled the sky. They descended upon the city, firing lasers and missiles into the buildings, clearing a path for a larger craft, moving slowly through the ranks of its escorts. Upon reaching the center of the city, the large craft opened its bottom hatches and dropped a bomb. It spiraled downward towards the city streets, and upon impact, detonated into a giant mushroom cloud, the nuclear explosion decimating several city blocks and severely damaging hundreds more. In the crater that the bomb left a giant tower descended, its huge rocket engine slowing its approach. An aircraft that was different than all of the others circled the tower as it lowered itself into the ground. The stingray-like aircraft settled into the rubble next to the crater and an access ramp lowered onto once was a street. The dark figure known as Apocalypse and Nathaniel Essex, known as Mister Sinister descended the ramp. Apocalypse gave his victory speech as his tower settled into the ground.

"Now all shall bear witness to my greatness," he said, walking slowly down the ramp. "I hold their leaders powerless and their mightiest city is under _my_ control." Sinister smiled as Apocalypse continued.

"Soon I will show this world a war, the likes of which have never been seen," he said as his tower finally touched down, the glow from its engine that had lit up his face finally extinguishing, "I will weed out the weak and inferior, so that only the strong survive." He held up a fist in the air to emphasize this as the power flickered on in his tower, which was like a beacon over the now pitch black city. A light rain began to fall and the thunder rumbled as Apocalypse and Sinister walked inside their new base of operations. Just before the doors closed, Apocalypse looked into the sky, where there was a flash of blue against the gray and an ear piercing screech that set off some of the remaining car's alarms.

---------------------

The X-Men ran upstairs and into the den, where the younger students already had the news on. They showed up right on time, just as the information was repeated.

"_And back to our top story: New York lies in ruins after a mutant calling himself Apocalypse invaded the city and detonated a nuclear bomb in downtown New York. Power is out for most of the state, and any attempts to enter the city have been met with extreme violence. The president has been asked to speak on this…"_

Dani gasped. "How could something like this happen?"

Storm shook her head. "We weren't prepared for such a large scale attack. We were concerned with catching Magneto. Erik would never have gone this far."

"That you're right about, my girl," said Erik from the doorway. Xavier walked in behind him.

"It seems the events in Matthew's dreams have finally pieced themselves together. The only mystery is what has become of Warren."

Erik looked at everyone and then at Charles. "For the world's most powerful psychic you really have difficulty seeing the obvious, don't you Charles? Angel is gone. He is either dead or twisted by Sinister into something else entirely."

Ever the optimist, Xavier disagreed. "There could still be hope for Angel."

"We don't even know where he is though. He could be anywhere, if he is even alive," said Alex. The others nodded in agreement, but Xavier seemed less than pleased.

"Children, did you forget about cerebro?"

Kitty smiled. "I made a program that does the same thing, Professor."

Xavier laughed. "You always were the bright one, Kitty. However, I will attempt to use the original to find our friend Warren. He is most likely away from Apocalypse and Sinister, which means we will be able to locate him. If he isn't then we know exactly where he is anyway."

Erik chuckled. "Very clever, Charles."

The two of them left the room, leaving the X-Men to talk. The younger kids had already changed the station to a Disney movie, which made Remy groan. Sam sighed and walked back towards the interior of the mansion, no doubt to spend time by himself again. They all walked outside into the night, the still muggy summer air almost instantly dampening their recently changed clothes. "I don't like this," said Pete.

"Yeah, the greatest threat to our country yet is less than a hundred miles from here," added Rogue, who had shown up after the X-Men had all come rushing upstairs.

"Well what are we supposed to do? We're just kids," said Bobby.

"We need to do somethin'," replied Remy. "I'm gonna go crazy sittin' around here waitin' to be attacked."

"Remy's right," said Matthew, playing with some pebbles, making them float in patterns in the air. "We need to find a way to take Apocalypse down."

Kitty jumped on Matthew's back playfully, wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck, like a forced piggy-back ride. "Be realistic, sweetie. This guy took out New York in a matter of minutes and is managing to keep back the full force of the United States military. What could a little group of kids do?"

Matthew smirked, going invisible and dropping Kitty. He reappeared behind her and whispered into her ear. "More than you think."

"Take it upstairs, you two," said Bobby with a somewhat disgusted look on his face. John laughed.

"You're one to talk, Bobby. You haven't been able to keep your hands off of our little former soul sucker since she came back human."

Rogue slapped John right across the face and glared at him. What he said was true, but she didn't like the way he said it. Several pops caught her attention and distracted her from her anger. Jubilee walked towards the group, smiling right at John, who smiled back. "What's going on, everyone?"

John stared at Jubilee. "Have you been living under a rock for the past hour?"

Jubilee yawned. "Not really, just napping. Why, did something happen?"

"New York is in ruins, Jubilee," said Dani. A look of shock crossed her face.

"How could this happen?"

"I asked the same thing," replied Dani. "Some mutant named Apocalypse dropped an h-bomb right in the middle of downtown."

"But someone had to have seen him coming, we have defenses for this type of thing!" she was beginning to shout. A thought suddenly dawned on Matthew: Jubilee's family was from New York. John took her hand and squeezed it, while Alex explained the rest to Jubilee.

"He overwhelmed everyone with sheer numbers. Eyewitnesses say the sky was completely covered with his aircraft."

A tear fell from her eye and she hung her head. Matthew saw a side of John that he hadn't seen before: a caring one. He took Jubilee in his arms and she cried into his shirt. Kitty placed a hand on her shoulder and Jubilee turned to hug Kitty. The two of them had had all of the same classes together since they came here, and become close friends. Kitty understood what Jubilee was going through. Remy, however did not.

"Why you cryin' chere?"

"My entire family lived in New York. They're probably dead. I have nowhere else to go now."

Bobby placed an arm around Jubilee. "I can truly say this to you now: welcome to the family."

Jubilee walked slowly back over to John, where he embraced her again. Jubilee's reaction had rocked them all, causing everyone who had someone special to move closer to them. Remy, although he was alone, didn't seem to care that much. Pete, however, sighed.

"If this is going to turn into a couple's thing then I'm out of here," he said, turning to leave. He paused as Xavier's voice echoed in all of their heads. _Everyone, get to my office, now._ The commanding tone caught them off guard; Xavier never used commands unless it was urgent. The ten of them rushed back inside and filed into Xavier's office.

"What's the problem Professor?"

"I have located Angel. He is…here."

"At the mansion?" asked Bobby.

"Yes, Bobby."

"Are you sure, Professor? Those wings are hard to miss," said Kitty.

"Cerebro doesn't lie, Kitty. We will split up and individually search the grounds for Angel. I want every inch of property searched; he may be unconscious somewhere so look in places you might not expect to find someone."

Everyone nodded and left the office, then split up to search the grounds, inside and out. The thunder rolled outside, the weather threatening rain.

---------------

As the thunder rolled above him, Archangel watched from the roof of the mansion as his former friends talked about what his master had done to New York City. The next horseman was in sight, it was all a matter of getting him on his own. Archangel was stronger now, but he wasn't about to take on eight members of the X-Men on his own. He wasn't stupid. So he sat and waited, for he knew he would get his chance. The next horseman was a loner, so it was only a matter of time.

----------------

An hour later, they all shuffled back into Xavier's office.

"There was no trace of him, Professor," said Alex.

"Not even a feather," added Remy.

"This truly is disappointing news. Angel would have had valuable information on Apocalypse." He paused for a moment, and then looked at all of them closely, as if doing a mental head-count. "Where's John?"

The nine of them looked around; the Professor was right, John was missing now too. An ear piercing screech from outside shook the windows, and there was a flash of blue on the gray-black sky. As the lightning lit up the sky, Matthew could have sworn he saw a huge pair of wings fading into the distance.

---------------------

"Let me go!" shouted John, who was in some sort of metal container. All he could see was the crease in the door to the chamber, just inches in front of his nose. He was just glad he wasn't claustrophobic. The only thing he could remember was looking for that Warren guy on the grounds, and then he got hit on the back of the head and woke up in this thing.

"You will thank me in the end, Pyro," said an unfamiliar voice.

"Who are you and how do you know my name?"

"You want to know my name? That is truly unimportant for the time being. But if you must know, my name is Nathaniel. I know all that there is to know about you, Pyro. A DNA sample tells books worth of information about someone."

"What do you want with me?" John asked frantically.

"I want to make you strong, my boy. You will thank me when this is over, just like Warren did."

"What did you do to Angel?!"

The man named Nathaniel laughed. "I don't believe he goes by that name anymore; Archangel is what I believe he responds to now. And you will see what I did to him soon enough, just after I am done with you. That is enough questions for now though, its nap time for you."

"You just wait until I get a hold of my lighter. I'll light you up like a match!!!" shouted John just before some sort of gas was released into the chamber and he fell into a deep sleep.

In his sleep, John felt nothing; it was like he was trapped in his own head. As he explored the inner workings of his mind he noticed his memories from the last few months were blurry, like everything wasn't exactly as it should be. A cloud began to seep into his subconscious; he knew it was the scientist's doing. John wasn't about to become some puppet. He held his breath and found that if he concentrated hard enough he could faintly hear what was going on outside.

_I want the one named Gambit, Archangel. His power is truly untapped. He will make a fine addition to the horsemen. The last one, however, we cannot take by force. His mutation won't let us. Give him a reason to come to us; make him an offer he can't refuse._

John became worried for his friends. Remy was their next target. The last one however he wasn't sure on. As he tried to listen once again, it became too much of a strain, and even John's subconscious passed out.

----------------------

"This isn't good, Professor," said Ororo, running her hands through her hair.

"Students shouldn't be disappearing like this," agreed Hank.

"Let's go to New York and find them, then. You know that's where they are," said Logan.

"How you propose we do that, Logan?" asked Hank.

"I have an idea," said Matthew, poking his head through the door.

Xavier smiled and laced his fingers together. "Come in Matthew, I would love to hear this idea for getting your friends back."

Matthew walked through the door and sat down on a couch. "Send a small search party into the city. Four people tops. We can use the sewers; security should be lighter down there."

Remy opened the door, inviting himself in, as if he had been listening in on the conversation as well. "I know the sewers of that city. They are a quick way to get aroun' if you don't want t'be seen."

"It seems that our little thief here has a point," said Xavier.

"If we're going into the city, then I'm leading the operation. I'm gonna get matchbox back here, as well as wings," said Logan.

"I'm going too. My stealth should help scout out the level of security in the sewers," said Matthew.

"Well that settles three of our four. Who is the fourth person to go along?"

Logan thought for a moment, speaking his mind. "We need someone light on their feet, but can still pack a punch in a fight."

"What about Bobby?" asked Matthew.

"Bobby has shown a great deal of improvement in the danger room," said Hank.

_Bobby, could you please come into my office?_

A moment later Bobby was in the office, his hair somewhat disheveled as if the Professor had caught him in the middle of something. Matthew tried his best not to laugh.

"Bobby, we need you to go on a search and rescue mission to try to locate and bring back Angel and John. Logan, Matthew and Remy here are already going."

It didn't take Bobby long to reply. "I'm in. When do we leave?"

The thunder crashed, lightning shot across the sky, and the heavens opened up. "First thing in the morning. We can't risk it in this weather," replied the Professor.

"Get some sleep, you three. I don't want to hear any complaints come tomorrow morning," said Logan sternly.

The three boys nodded and left the office. "Do you really think this is a wise idea Professor? We could end up with three more missing students," said Ororo.

"No one is disappearing on my watch," replied Logan, crossing his arms across his chest.

**A/N: things are getting interesting, huh? Who better to make the next two horsemen than a former psycho and a former thief? I'm still working out how they will capture Gambit. And I have a plan for Pyro too. And in case you didn't notice, the first scene was the second video clip from X-Men legends II on my youtube profile R4Z0RsEDGE. You should be able to figure out which one it is if you want to look for yourself. I should be updating soon. I will have no distractions this weekend. Don't forget to review.**


	15. New York's Inferno

Disclaimer: X-Men is a trademark of Marvel comics. I do not claim to own any of the characters or settings used below. However, the original characters Andrew and Sheila Tyson, Jerry, and Matthew a.k.a. "Geist" belong to me.

Chapter 14: New York's Inferno

"Let me see him," said a deep voice.

"Yes, master," replied the man named Nathaniel. He pressed a button on the console and the container's doors opened, snapping John back to consciousness.

"How do you feel, Pyro?" asked a very large man with gray skin.

John looked down at himself. He didn't look any different, but the air around his skin shimmered, like the air around a car on a hot summer day. He touched his arm but felt nothing. His skin felt normal to him. Without saying anything to the large gray man or the pale man with dark hair who he assumed was Nathaniel, he walked over to the nearby surgical sink and placed his hands under the running water. The room immediately filled with steam as the water immediately evaporated. John reached up and turned off the water; when he pulled his hand away the handle for the faucet was red hot. He smiled and had to try. He held his hand out in front of him and a flame sparked and grew, much larger than he ever expected with such little effort. "This is amazing."

Nathaniel smiled. "Impressed, Pyro?"

"Pyro isn't strong enough of a name anymore. Pyro was weak—he could be controlled. My new name is Inferno."

"Well Inferno, horseman of Famine, welcome to my tower. There are still two horsemen to recruit, and you will be helping me," said the gray skinned man.

"Master Apocalypse, the third horseman is heading right for us. This is going to be easier than we anticipated," said what appeared to be Warren. John was surprised by how much Warren had changed. What had once been tan skin and curly blonde hair there was now only pale blue skin. His wings didn't even look natural anymore; they looked like they were made of metal. John decided to play along for a little while, let them think their little mind warp worked perfectly. Somehow some part of him knew just how to do that and John wasn't entirely sure why.

"What would you have us do, master?" asked John.

Apocalypse, the large gray man, walked up to the two of them. "Inferno, take the sewers. They will undoubtedly take those in an attempt to bypass my security. Archangel, patrol the skies in case they decide to fly in or take the streets."

"Yes, my master," they said in unison, walking off in different directions.

--------------------------

Matthew's alarm clock was blasting the radio as he groaned, rolled over and hit the snooze button for the third time. He felt heat on his face; that meant the sun was up. He heard the shower going; Bobby had woken up probably after the alarm went off the first time. As he tried to doze back off to get a few more minutes of sleep, Matthew's eyes snapped open due to a loud banging on the door. The sunlight hit his eyes and Matthew screamed. He heard Logan's voice come from the other side of the door.

"I guess that means he's up."

Matthew shut his eyes again and put on his sunglasses, and then opened the door. Logan was there, dressed in street clothes, with his arms crossed across his chest. "That wasn't funny, you know. It really hurts when sunlight hits my eyes."

If Logan cared he didn't show it. "Get dressed and tell Bobby to hurry up. We leave in ten."

"Wait, we're not going in uniforms?"

"This is a stealth mission, kid. Those uniforms make us stand out like an albino in Harlem. Gambit is waiting downstairs in the foyer, and that's where I will be as well. If you're late then you're not going."

Logan turned and walked away. Matthew closed the door and got dressed. Bobby walked out of the shower; his wet footprints crystallizing as he unconsciously used his power. He started to get into his uniform but Matthew stopped him.

"Logan wants us in street clothes."

Without a word Bobby changed into normal clothes and followed Matthew downstairs to the foyer. Just like Logan said, he and Remy were downstairs waiting. Remy was dressed in his trench coat as usual, but he still managed to make it look casual.

"Lets go, you two," Logan said without turning around, opening the front door and Remy following him out.

"We aren't taking the jet?"

"Kid, how many times do I have to tell you? This is a stealth mission. We wouldn't be able to get the jet close enough without being shot down by Apocalypse's military. We're taking a car and parking in Brooklyn. The sewers will lead us into the city from there."

They followed Logan in silence to his Mazda RX-8, Bobby and Matthew climbed into the back while Remy sat in the front with Logan. As Logan started the car and the engine rumbled, Matthew almost immediately fell back asleep.

---------------------

As the car rumbled to a stop, Matthew jerked back awake. They were on the side of a river, a bridge crossing it in the distance. Even from outside the city, Matthew could see Apocalypse's tower quite clearly. The mood around it was strange, because last night's storm had passed and now the sun was shining on the city. Matthew knew that everyone in the city was either dead or evacuated, so the streets were like runways for Apocalypse's thousands of aircraft. The sewers would be the only safe way in unless someone knew how to stick to the shadows.

"We're here?" asked Matthew with a yawn.

Remy turned around in the passenger seat. "Yeah, we're here. Wha' happen to you?"

"I was just really tired."

"Well wake up, ghost boy. We need to get moving. Who knows what they are doing to matchbox in there," said Logan, climbing out of the car. The rest of them followed suit. Logan turned to Remy as if for guidance.

"We need t'take the sewers beneath the river into the city," he said, attempting to lift a manhole cover.

"Need a little help, Remy?" asked Matthew. Remy nodded and Matthew lifted the cover with his mind.

"You three stay here until I know it's safe," said Logan, jumping beneath the street. There was a splash of water, then silence for a moment. "Let's go, newbies!" Logan shouted from below.

Bobby jumped in first, then Matthew and finally Remy. Seconds later they were all knee-deep in who knows what, but it was mixed with water. Logan was standing on an outcropping on the side of the tunnel, his jeans already beginning to dry.

"It smells like shit down here. Let's get moving," Logan said. They all silently agreed, the three boys climbing up onto the outcropping and following Logan down the tunnel. At Logan's request Remy took point position, leading them down the sewers with little effort. After walking for what seemed like an eternity, Matthew heard the sound of footsteps on the pavement above him. "We're in the city," Bobby whispered.

"We need to get to the tower," said Matthew.

Logan nodded. "We need someone on the streets to guide us to the tower."

"I'll do it," said Remy. "I can get aroun' without getting' caught. And the only thin' I know better than the sewers is the streets."

Matthew smiled. "Need me to lift another manhole cover for you, Remy?"

"I got this one, mon ami." He pressed his hands to the cover and it began to glow. Remy backed up as the cover exploded off of the hole straight into the air. Remy climbed out onto the street just as the cover slammed back down into place. Logan placed two fingers to his ears, activating the two way radio in his ear. "You alright, gumbo?"

"I read ya' loud n' clear, mon ami," came Remy's voice over their earpieces. They followed Remy's directions for who knows how long until the subterranean entrance to the tower was visible. Well, there wasn't a door, but that had never stopped Matthew before. The atmosphere around the base was strange. There was a mist in the air and the humidity was off the charts. Bobby looked at Matthew.

"Not me man, I swear. It is warm in here to you guys?"

"It does seem a bit warmer than normal for a freakin sewer," replied Bobby. "I can take care of that though." He gently lowered the temperature to a comfortable level within seconds.

Logan pressed his fingers to his ear again. "Gambit, stay in the shadows. We are attempting to infiltrate the tower now."

"Roger that, Wolvie."

Logan scowled. Remy didn't use that nickname a lot except when he was bored and wanted to annoy Logan. Matthew walked up to the base of the tower and pressed a hand against it. It felt cool to the touch. He attempted to phase though it, but nothing happened. Matthew slapped the metal, then looked back at Logan and Bobby.

"What's wrong, Matt?" asked Bobby.

"I can't phase through it."

"I have a theory. Matthew, try to stick your hand through my chest," said Logan.

Matthew walked up to Logan and phased his hand through his chest, but it stopped when it hit Logan's ribs. Matthew pulled it back out, confused. "I knew it. You can't phase through adamantium. The metal's atoms are too closely knit. You can't move between them. That's what the tower is made of."

"So what do we do?" asked Bobby.

"I'm not sure. I wasn't counting on Apocalypse knowing how to manipulate adamantium."

"What happenin' mon ami?" said Remy over the radio.

"We can't get into the tower, Remy. Do you see any way in from out there?"

"That's a no, Matt. I will keep lookin' though."

They all stood in silence next to the base of the tower before the sound of a few stray rocks hitting the water caught Matthew's attention. It was then that Matthew noticed that the temperature around them had risen to what it once was. A voice echoed through the sewer tunnel. "I know how to get in to the tower."

"Pyro?!" shouted Logan.

"No, not Pyro. Pyro is dead. The name's Inferno now," replied John, walking around the corner to face the three. Bobby recoiled when he saw John. John was on fire but wasn't burning. His eyes had physically changed from a normal blue to an inhuman orange iris and yellow "white" of the eye. Other than that he remained physically unchanged, but it still shocked Bobby what he had been though.

"John, is that you?"

"The name is Inferno, I told you already. You three are under arrest for trespassing on Apocalypse's property."

_Matthew, I hope you can hear me, I need you help._

_John, is that you?_

_Yeah it's me. Apocalypse has me under surveillance; I need your help to get out of here._

"That's not going to happen. Just try taking us in," said Logan, popping his claws.

"I have orders that if you don't come easily then to torch you."

Bobby iced himself over, prepared to counter whatever John could throw at him. _What do you want me to do, John?_

_I need you to beat the crap out of me and capture me. It is the only way my escape will be believable and Archangel won't come and kill me._

_You have to make it look believable, though John. This has to be a good act._

"Guys," Matthew whispered into his radio, "that is still John. Apocalypse is watching him. The only way to get him out of here is to defeat him. He will put up a fight, but he isn't trying to hurt us, ok?"

"I'm taking him out, whether he is actually putting up a fight or not," said Logan. He charged John, who superheated the water around Logan's feet. Logan screamed and Matthew lifted Logan out of the water. His shoes were gone and his skin was burned but healing rapidly. Bobby fired an ice beam at the water, freezing it solid everywhere except around John.

"You're gonna have to better than that ice cube," said John with a smirk. He plunged both of his hands into the water, flashing it into vapor and filling the tunnel with mist. Matthew cleared it in a few seconds and John was gone. _John where are you?_

There was no response. Matthew felt a flash of movement and jumped forward, turning around in the air and placing a telekinetic barrier just in time to stop the huge fire blast that would have ripped him to atoms if he had reacted a second later. He strained to keep the barrier up as John pushed on relentlessly, really making this look good. Bobby shot an ice beam at John, snuffing his fire momentarily and allowing for Matthew and Logan to get the upper hand. Matthew blocked John's fire while Logan snuck around behind him and before John knew it Logan had his claws at his throat.

"Game over, matchbox. Stand down."

"Not a chance," replied John, increasing his body temperature and creating fire all around himself. The adamantium on Logan's claws became red hot and he had to pull them back.

"That's enough, John!" shouted Matthew, taking a more direct approach and using his mind to "choke" John. He lifted John off of the ground and John began to turn blue. Seconds later he was unconscious. The temperature dropped back to what it should be in the subterranean tunnel. Bobby returned himself to normal and walked over to the knocked out John.

"Is he ok? I mean, he's not dead, is he?"

"No, I just knocked him out. We need to get him back to the mansion."

"What about Warren?"

"One step at a time, kid. If John was this bad imagine what they did to Warren," replied Logan.

"John was just acting though," said Matthew.

"Well he did a damn good job. Let's get him out of here," said Logan. He hoisted John over his shoulder and pressed a finger to his ear. "Remy, we have John. Get back down here or find your way out of the city from up there. Either way we're moving out."

There was silence on the line for a full minute as they walked through the sewer. Matthew pressed a finger to his ear this time. "Remy, are you there?"

Nothing but static answered him. Matthew hoped John could still hear his thoughts. _John, you alive in there?_

_Christ that chokehold hurt, Matt. Why did you feel the need to be so rough?_

_Oh I don't know, maybe it was because you felt the need to barbeque us?_

_I told you it was an act. Pretty convincing though, right?_

_A little too convincing if you ask me. Now I have something to ask you. Where was Warren while our little fight was going on?_

_He was patrolling the skies above the streets in case you guys used above ground to sneak in._

_So he could have found Remy?_

_Remy was above ground? I didn't even know he was here._

_He was our guide to the tower._

_There is no doubt in my mind that Archangel found him then. Warren probably could have found him in his normal state and his powers have increased ten-fold._

_Thank you for the information, John. You should rest now._

By this time they were about halfway through the tunnels. Matthew snapped back to what he was doing and informed Logan and Bobby of the situation. "Remy has most likely been captured."

"How do you know that, Matt?" asked Bobby.

"I talked to John, he said that Warren was searching above ground for anyone on the surface. Now Remy and hide from just about anyone, but you know how good Warren's eyes were."

"So we got matchbox but we lost gumbo. The Professor won't be happy about this," said Logan.

The boys silently agreed and they walked the rest of the tunnels in silence until they got back to the car.

--------------------

Through the sky entrance to the tower, Archangel descended upon a patiently waiting Apocalypse and Sinister. He held someone in his arms, someone in a dark brown trench coat.

"I managed to find this one," he said, "But the others escaped. They have captured Inferno as well."

"We have lost a horseman…" said Apocalypse, thinking deeply. "Xavier will no doubt wipe his mind so he returns to normal. But this one, I like him. His stealth will come in handy. Who were the ones that captured Inferno?"

Warren searched his twisted memories for a moment, then responded. "The leader's name was Logan, also known as Wolverine. He had two of his newer members with him, a senior class student named Bobby, also known as iceman and a sophomore named Matthew, known to the students as Geist."

A look of surprise crossed Apocalypse's face. He whipped around to Sinister, his anger boiling over. "You told me he was dead!"

"Master Apocalypse, we did everything we could! He disappeared after the accident, we assumed he died in it!"

"Argh!!" shouted Apocalypse, punching a dent in a nearby wall. He calmed after a moment then a grin crossed his face. "This may turn out to be a good thing after all. I have a plan. Sinister, get to work on converting this one. I want Pestilence ready as soon as possible. Archangel, I have a new mission for you. Pack a coat, you're going to Russia. This is the one that I told you about before. He won't come easily; use any means necessary to get him here. Our new horseman of Famine will be much more useful than the last."

"Yes, my master," they said in unison. They turned and walked away, Sinister with Gambit over his shoulder, placing him on an operating table and putting a sedative IV in his arm. Archangel walked back to his quarters to rest and prepare for the long flight ahead. Apocalypse stood on his observation deck over looking the city, quietly laughing to himself. Things were working out better than he could have hoped.

**A/N: Intense chapter, right? I had writer's block over the weekend, go figure. Anyways…reviews would greatly be appreciated. I will update soon.**


	16. Dousing the Flames

Disclaimer: X-Men is a trademark of Marvel comics. I do not claim to own any of the characters or settings used below. However, the original characters Andrew and Sheila Tyson, Jerry, and Matthew a.k.a. "Geist" belong to me.

Chapter 15: Dousing the Flames

The sun was high in the sky when Logan's RX-8 pulled back into the garage at the mansion. As the car rumbled to a stop, the back door opened and Matthew stumbled out.

"Ugh! Thank god we're back. John stinks to high heaven, guys."

"It's almost like he's been laying in sewer water, huh Matt?" asked Bobby with a laugh.

"Shut up you two, and get him out of the car. He's ruining the upholstery."

"We need to get him downstairs before he wakes up again," said Bobby, hoisting John out of the car. Matthew grabbed John's legs and together the two boys took him downstairs. Logan, however, stayed on the surface level. He had to give his report to the Professor. He walked slowly inside, mentally preparing himself for what could happen. As he opened the doors to the Professor's office he took a deep breath.

"Come in, Logan. How did the mission go?"

"Hi, Professor. Well, I have good news and bad news. The good news is we found and brought back Pyro. Matthew and Bobby are putting him downstairs now. The bad news is…"

"You lost Remy," the Professor finished.

Logan hung his head. He wasn't happy about this. The Professor seemed to understand. "This was a dangerous mission, Remy knew that. This mission proves that we won't be able to get him back without losing someone else though. We can't afford that, so we will do nothing."

"Nothing?!" Logan exclaimed. He may not like gumbo, but he didn't want to see him hurt. "I want you to see what Apocalypse did to Pyro, and then see if you still want to do nothing." He stormed out of the office, and the Professor slowly followed.

----------------------------

Matthew and Bobby grunted as they hauled John down towards the medical bay. Bobby suddenly stopped, catching Matthew off guard. "What's wrong?"

"What if John wakes up and starts setting stuff on fire? He doesn't need his lighter anymore. We need to find somewhere safe to put him."

"I agree. What about the danger room? We could make the doors vanish and he couldn't get out."

"Perfect." The two boys turned down the hallway leading to the danger room and the doors opened on command. They placed John gently on the floor and walked out before the doors closed and started the default simulation, a blank white landscape. As they were leaving the danger room they almost ran into Logan.

"You put him in the danger room?"

"We didn't want him to set stuff on fire. What better place to put him in than a place he can't get out of?" said Bobby.

"I think it's the perfect place to keep an eye on him," said the Professor, walking up behind Logan. "Logan and I will get to the observation blister, you two go about the rest of your day. I do believe there are a couple girls that went ballistic when you didn't show up at breakfast."

Matthew and Bobby looked at each other. Kitty and Rogue were going to kill them when they found out what happened. They jogged to the lift, then once upstairs, began looking for Kitty and Rogue. They found the two girls out in the sun, working on their homework. They were really into it; they didn't even notice Matthew and Bobby until Matthew cleared his throat.

"Matthew, oh my god you're home!" she exclaimed, giving Matthew a big hug. She then let him go and pushed him. Rogue did the same to Bobby. "What were you thinking? You could have been killed!"

Matthew, unsure of what to say, responded the best that he could. "We got John back," he said with a nervous smile. Kitty's anger seemed to soften and she sat down again, and Matthew sat down with her. "I'm just so glad that you're not hurt." She went back to studying, but as Matthew wrapped an arm around her, she paused. "Matt, you reek. Where exactly were you?"

"We were in a sewer, trying to get into Apocalypse's tower."

"And you didn't think to shower before you came to find me?"

"Sorry," said Matthew, getting up and walking back across the lawn towards the mansion. He turned and added, "I just wanted to see you and let you know I was okay. But I'll go take a shower, because that's what's important." He turned around and walked inside, without another word said.

"Kitty, that wasn't very nice," said Rogue. Bobby leaned over to kiss her on the cheek and her face crinkled, but she dealt with it. "Bobby, I really am glad you're okay. But would you mind cleaning up for me?"

Bobby laughed and sniffed the air. "Wow yeah. I would be glad to. I'll see you in a bit." He got up and walked inside, hoping to beat Matthew to the shower. Rogue turned to Kitty and offered a smile.

"That's how that should be handled."

"Whatever, Marie. So anyways, back to homework." And she rambled on about their physics assignment, but Rogue tuned her out.

"That's how you're going to leave it?" she asked.

Kitty looked up from her homework. "Yeah, that's how I'm going to leave it. I will patch things up with him later. I always do."

Rogue rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the assignment. If Kitty was going to be stubborn about this, Rogue wouldn't fight her.

---------------------------------

John's eyes fluttered open and all he saw was white. He was laying on the floor somewhere, but he wasn't sure where. The last thing he remembered was talking to Matt through his head, and then blacking out. He sat up, only to see more white. It was disorienting, and John felt dizzy. He lie back on his back and shut his eyes. He called out to anyone that he hoped was listening, "Where am I?"

Xavier's voice echoed throughout the room. "You're in the danger room, John. Bobby and Matthew thought this would be the best place to keep yourself and others the safest."

"I know how to control my powers," said John.

"I don't think so, matchbox," said Logan's voice. "You took things a little too far for an act down in the sewer. So I believe it's time for a little solo training to help you learn how to safely control those new abilities of yours."

John scowled. He despised training; he knew what he was doing. But if it was what it took to get out of this room, he would oblige his two teachers. "What do you want me to do?"

It was Xavier's voice again. "We will start with something simple. The sensors in the room are telling me that the external temperature in there is well above 100 degrees Fahrenheit. That heat is coming from you, and you aren't even trying. I need you to lower your temperature back to normal so that your surroundings will return to normal."

John agreed, though it didn't feel hot in here to him. He concentrated and felt himself cool down, and the air cooled along with him. With a little effort, he was able to maintain this feeling, and then soon with no effort at all. "Good, John. Now for the actual training; I need you to ignite a flame and sustain it for me."

John opened his eyes to find that the white of the default running program had faded to a training room program, made to look like a martial arts studio. It reminded John of that movie "The Matrix." He smirked at the Professor's request; he could do that easily. Standing up, John opened his hand and created a small flame and let it burn just inches above his skin. Keeping it the same size though was hard. The flame kept trying to envelop his arm and travel to other parts of his body. It was like a hunger trying to consume him.

"Just like I thought," said the Professor, projecting a holographic image of himself down to the floor. "Your powers are too great for you to control easily."

"That's why you just about killed us down there," added Logan.

John scoffed at Logan's remark. His power had always been in his control. But the jump in its strength was startling. He had to ask a question. "Is this room fireproof?"

"In its current state, yes. Why do you ask?"

"I need to see just what the upper limits of my power are, that way I know how hard I need to train to get myself back to one hundred percent controlled."

Xavier sighed. He may not like it, but John had a point. "Go ahead, John."

John smiled. He was glad the Professor agreed with him, but he would have done it anyway. John released all hold on his power and felt his internal temperature skyrocket, as did the external temperature in the room. A wind whipped about as the hot air rose, and as John lit a flame, fanned it into a fiery tornado that engulfed him. John did not burn, however. He pulled the tornado over his head and moved it around the room, playing with it like a new toy. He fed the flames with fresh ones from his hands then with a little concentration, caused the giant pillar of fire to take another shape. The shape of a giant hawk flapped its wings about the danger room, embers falling from its wingtips. John smiled; he really had something to show off now. He lowered his temperature and the temperature in the room, but kept the firebird burning. He made it land then turned it into a deer, then a horse, then a spider, then finally extinguished it. He felt a little winded but otherwise fine.

"John, it amazes me how quickly you regain control over your power," said Xavier.

Logan sighed over the intercom. "I hate to say it matchbox, but you're good to go. End program."

The training dojo faded to the normal appearance of the danger room and the doors opened. John walked calmly out and took the lift back upstairs. He needed a shower—a cold one.

--------------------------

Steam rose from the bathroom door as Matthew walked out in a towel, running his hands trough his wet hair. He certainly felt better than he had before the shower, the hot water almost making him forget his anger with Kitty. He was distracted once again from his thoughts by an impatient-looking Bobby, sitting on the bed with his arms crossed.

"Could you possibly have taken a longer shower?"

"I was nasty, dude. And I rode with John the whole way back. You were lucky—you got shotgun."

Bobby rolled his eyes, got up and went into the bathroom. As Matthew dressed he was once again left to his thoughts. _What could possess Kitty to act like that?_ Once again dressed and dry, Matthew laid down on his bed. He figured she would try to apologise eventually, but until then, he wasn't speaking to her. He got bored after about ten minutes and figured he would go watch some TV and get a snack. As he left the room, he almost ran into John.

"You alright man?"

John smirked. "Never felt better. Gonna go take a shower though, I will see you in a bit."

"Cool, I will be downstairs in the den."

Without another word the two boys parted ways. Matthew walked calmly downstairs and sat down in front of the TV. He put on an old movie, something he couldn't even remember the name of. All he knew was that he was tired, and this movie was the best thing that had happened to him all day.

-------------------------------

Hours later, Matthew's eyes snapped open. The room was dark, as was the TV. He was covered in a blanket, which he pulled back and left on the sofa. He shook himself awake; he really had to stop falling asleep down here. In the darkness of the room, Matthew saw something white taped to the screen of the television. It was a note with the words "I'm sorry" written across the front. He knew that handwriting, it was Kitty's. He got up and pulled the note off of the TV.

_I'm sorry about the way I acted earlier, Matthew. I said what I was thinking before I thought about whether I should say it or not, and that is probably the dumbest thing I have done in a long time. I want to make it up to you, so if you could come up to my room when you get this, I will be waiting. _

_Ever yours,_

_Kitty_

A smile crossed Matthew's face as he read that last sentence. Could tonight finally be the night when they took their relationship to the next level? Matthew wasn't about to stand around anymore and not find out. Trying his best to hide his excitement, he walked upstairs and knocked on Kitty's door. When there was no answer, he figured she must have gone to sleep and phased through the door. The first thing he noticed on the other side was Kitty's clock. It read 3 AM. Other than the glow from the clock, the room was dark and empty.

"Where could she be?" Matthew muttered to himself. Just on instinct he checked in and around her bed, finding nothing but a CD case. He absent mindedly carried it with him as he phased back out into the hallway, then remembered he had it in his hand. He was about to go back in and return it when he happened to glance at the clear lid of the case. The disc inside was a writable DVD, with the words "play me" written on it. A look of concern crossed Matthew's face. He ran down to his room, where he paused at the door because of a sound he knew all too well. Pounding on the door, he said, "Bobby! Rogue! I think something has happened to Kitty!"

There was quiet for a moment then the door opened. Bobby was in just a pair of boxers and Rogue was wrapped in the blanket sitting on the bed. "What do you mean, Matt?"

Matthew held up the disc. "I found this in Kitty's room when I was looking for her."

"What's on it?" asked Rogue from the edge of Bobby's bed.

"I don't know yet. I didn't want to watch this alone. Get dressed, I will wait out here." Bobby nodded and closed the door. A few minutes passed then he and Rogue were standing in the doorway, fully dressed. They ran down the hallway towards the stairs but stopped when the sound of an opening door caught their attention. Pete leaned his head out into the hallway and yawned.

"Why are you three running around at three in the morning?"

"Kitty's missing, Pete," said Bobby abruptly. Pete seemed to wake up instantly. He might not have liked the way things ended between the two of them, but Kitty was still his friend and team mate. Without even getting dressed he left his room and followed them downstairs. They all went and sat down on the couch where Matthew had been sleeping not thirty minutes ago, turned on the TV and put the disc in the DVD player. There was just a black screen for a moment, then a face appeared on the screen. It was a heavyset face, the skin was gray and blue, the eyes were a deep red. The face spoke directly to the camera.

"Hello Matthew Tyson, or should I call you 'Geist?' My name is En Sabah Nur, but you may call me Apocalypse. As you undoubtedly already know, I have captured two of your friends. What you may not realize yet is that with the help of my horsemen, I now have your girlfriend as well. What happens to her matters not to me, because who I really want…is you. Come to New York alone, and give yourself in to me and I will free your precious Kitty. Refuse to come or bring anyone with you and I will let my old friend Sinister have his way with her. You may not like the results. Goodbye for now, Matthew."

Just before the screen faded to black, the camera shifted off of Apocalypse and into the background, where Matthew saw the strange, twisted forms of Warren and Remy, but there was another he did not recognize. Pete jumped up and stared at the now black screen.

"Rewind that, Bobby."

Bobby picked up the remote and backed up the tape to where it showed what Matthew assumed were Apocalypse's "horsemen," hen paused it. Pete got as close to the screen as he could, hoping that what he was seeing wasn't true.

"What's wrong Pete?" asked Rogue.

"That's my brother," Pete replied quietly. "That son of a bitch has my brother!"

Matthew, still shaken by the tape, sighed. Tonight was going to be a long night.

---------------------------

When the sun hit his face, John opened his eyes. He had slept really well last night, almost as well as Matt, who had passed out on the couch again. Jubilee grumbled and turned over, exposing her bare back to John. He smiled. They had only been going out a couple days but John worked his magic and Jubilee caved. It seemed that his brush with death and evil along with his new eyes really made an impression on her. He didn't think any less of her though; he still really cared for her. And she was so beautiful. He laid in the sunshine for a little while longer before realizing that he was in a girl's room on a school day. He closed the door quietly behind him as he tip-toed down the hallway back towards his room when he heard a commotion downstairs. He turned around and headed downstairs, where he saw four of his friends arguing.

"I don't care what you say Bobby, I'm going alone!"

"It's too dangerous Matt. You could be killed!" shouted Bobby right back.

"Apocalypse has my brother, I'm not going to just sit here," said Pete, trying his best to stay calm. It was Rogue who noticed John standing in the doorway.

"John, Apocalypse has Kitty, and apparently Pete's brother as well."

"It's not apparent, it's true!" said Pete.

"What are we going to do?" asked John.

"We are going to do nothing. Apocalypse wants me to come alone, and that is what is going to happen," said Matthew.

"There has been no reasoning with him, John. He absolutely refuses to let anyone help him," said Bobby with a sigh.

"Didn't you hear Apocalypse on the tape? If anyone else besides me comes then Sinister is going to do horrible stuff to Kitty!"

John smirked. He understood what needed to be done. "Matt, take the keys to the bike. I know you need to save her and going alone is the only way. Suit up though, that way you can stay in contact."

Bobby silently agreed, and Rogue laid a hand softly on his shoulder. "We will be listening, okay?"

Matthew nodded, took the keys from John, then went upstairs to change. A few minutes later they all heard the motorcycle crank up and speed off into the morning light.

**A/N: don't forget to review, please. I need to know what you guys think so far with the story. **


	17. Ghosts, Angels and Demons

Disclaimer: X-Men is a trademark of Marvel Comics. I do not claim to own any of the characters or settings used below. However, the original characters Jerry, Andrew and Sheila Tyson, and Matthew Tyson a.k.a. "Geist" belong to me.

Chapter 16: Ghosts, Angels and Demons

The sun that had been shining over Westchester, New York was not shared by New York City. The sky was overcast and a light rain had begun to fall, smearing Matthew's vision behind his sunglasses. He pulled his glasses up and perched them on top of his head as he drove at a steady speed through the deserted streets of the city. The tower stood tall over everything, taller than the nearby ruins of the Chrysler building, and probably even taller than the twin towers had been. It seemed to get constantly bigger as he got closer; he didn't remember the base looking this big from the sewer yesterday. When he was a few blocks away he put the bike in park and killed the ignition. He was just about to get off when a small clink of metal-on-metal caught his attention. He looked down at Pyro's bike and saw nothing—at first. He bent over the side and the glowing reddish-pink energy of an ace of spades stuck right into the engine alerted his sense that he should probably get off of the bike. He jumped straight up, lifting himself with telekinesis and phasing just in case.

It turned out so be a smart idea because not only did the fire envelop his phased body, but the explosion broke every window on the block. Matthew lowered himself to the street, becoming solid and visible again. Like a Cheshire cat, his smile was the first thing Matthew saw. The canines were elongated and his already red-on-black eyes completed his image. The thing that once was Remy LeBeau stepped out onto the street. It smiled at Matthew again, exposing those frightening vampire-like canines.

"What's wrong, mon ami? You don like my lil' light show?"

"Remy, is that you?"

"No, the name is Shadow. But you can call me Famine," Shadow said with a smile. Matthew, however, was not so pleased.

"Where's Kitty?" he asked with a scowl. Shadow laughed.

"Oh she be safe, mon ami. Apocalypse has her where she can't get away." If he had more to say, he couldn't say it, because Matthew had him by the throat with his telekinesis.

"Give me a reason why I shouldn't just kill you now?" asked Matthew. His attention and his hold were broken by a screech from above and a flash of blue in front of him followed by an impact that shook him to the bone. Out of the crater walked what he assumed used to be Warren.

"Leave him alive or I give the signal and your precious Kitty will meet a fate worse than death."

" Warren?"

"Archangel, Horseman of Death," Archangel corrected. "Either name will do just fine, but Warren is dead. Don't call me that."

"Well Archangel, I believe I can take you too," Matthew said with a smile, grabbing both horsemen with his power.

"That's enough, little ghost," came a thick Russian voice from behind Matthew. There was a knife at his throat and as Matthew tried to grab the Russian, he was gone. Black portals enveloped the other two horsemen and then Matthew's hold on them was nonexistent as they vanished. A larger portal reopened in front of him and the three of the stepped out of it. Archangel smiled venomously.

"Meet Mikhail Rasputin, or Horseman of Pestilence, whichever you prefer. I see you have already figured out what he can do."

Matthew looked Mikhail up and down. He stood about 6'1" and looked like a linebacker for an NFL team. He had black hair and eyes and a stare that penetrated Matthew to the soul.

"Now come along quietly Geist, or we will ensure that your girlfriend endures as much pain as possible before she dies," said Mikhail.

Matthew sighed; he knew he couldn't beat them together. They worked too well as a team. He walked slowly forward as Mikhail opened up another portal and they all walked through. The next thing Matthew knew he was in a very metal room high above the city. Matthew looked to his left where a small metal cell contained the small sleeping body of Kitty. A very pale man with black hair and red eyes approached the four of them and held out his hand. Matthew stared at his hand and then glared at him. He knew who this man was.

"Sinister," Matthew hissed. He was about to make a move but Sinister held up his other hand, which was holding a small remote. Matthew backed down and remained totally still. Sinister grinned.

"Easily trained…good. Do you know why you're here?"

"I'm here to ensure that no harm comes to my girlfriend. The real question is: 'why am I here?'"

There were heavy footfalls that echoed throughout the room, originating behind the door at the other end of the large room. The doors opened automatically with a "whoosh" and Apocalypse walked into the room. The metal echoed with every footstep as the very large grey Egyptian approached the horsemen, Sinister and Matthew. He looked Matthew right in his eyes and in an instant Matthew knew what Apocalypse had in store for him.

"So, you must be Matthew. Kitty has not even woken up since Shadow stole her from her room last night. Comply with my wishes and she will never know she left."

Matthew narrowed his eyes at Apocalypse. There was a stirring inside the tiny cell that drew all of their attention.

"What the hell is this?" said Kitty's voice from inside the small metal room. Matthew knew what she tried next because there was a clang as her hand struck the side of the cell in futility. Just like Matthew guessed, the cell was made of adamantium.

"Kitty, I'm going to get you out of there, I promise."

"Matthew? Where am I?"

"You are in my tower, little one."

"Who the fuck are you?" screamed Kitty. She obviously wasn't happy about this situation.

"That's Apocalypse, Kitty. He and his horsemen captured you and in order to free you I had to come here alone."

"And you won't be free until we are done with Matthew," added Sinister.

Matthew whipped around toward Sinister. "That wasn't part of the deal!"

"I just made it part of the deal," replied Sinister venomously. "Unless you would prefer to disagree." He held out the remote again, just out of Kitty's line of sight. Matthew sighed, and nodded his head.

"Matt, whatever hold he has over you, don't worry about it! Don't sacrifice yourself for my sake!"

Matthew walked towards Kitty's cell and pressed his face to the small viewing window where there were no bars. He gave her a quick kiss and reached his hand through to touch her face.

"Kitty, whatever happens to me, I want to tell you one thing. I might never get the chance to say this again, so it's now or never. I love you, Kitty. I'm pretty sure I always have. That's why I need to make sure that you stay safe. I may never be normal again after this, I may end up like the others. I just wanted to let you know that just in case the person that leaves this tower isn't me. I will never forget you, Kitty. You made me feel wanted again." Matthew gave Kitty another quick kiss and smiled at her. Kitty smiled reluctantly back but was silent. She still wasn't happy with his choice.

"Come on now, my soon to be horseman. Goodbyes are over."

Matthew turned from the cell and scowled at Apocalypse. "I swear, one day you will pay for this, Apocalypse."

Sinister laughed. "I think not, Geist." He placed a hand on Matthew's back and tried to walk him towards the chamber. Matthew let his arm pass right through him as Sinister walked forward. "Keep your hands off of me old man. I know how to walk." Matthew walked reluctantly to the chamber where the other horsemen had been.

"Its nap time, ghost boy," said Sinister, pulling out a needle. Matthew held out an arm and winced as the cold metal pierced his skin. His vision almost instantly blurred and he felt very sleepy, slumping back into the chamber. The doors closed and Sinister chuckled to himself. Apocalypse walked up behind Sinister and crossed his arms.

"How long until War is up and running?"

"This could take time. The power modification will take almost no time at all, but behavioral modification could prove to be difficult. This guy was good to the core," replied Sinister, looking at a full DNA read out.

"Well hurry. The sooner that little girl is out of my sight the better."

"I heard that, asshole!" shouted Kitty from her cell.

"Can I hit the chere with just one card, master?"

"Shadow, stay out of this. When War is finished, I will have a new mission for you. Until then, patience is a virtue."

"Why do you keep calling him War?" asked Kitty.

"That you will see in time, little one. Now sit down and shut up," said Apocalypse.

Kitty scowled at Apocalypse, and sat down on the cold adamantium floor. Left only to her thoughts and the occasional small explosion from what used to be Remy, Kitty lad back and got lost in her head.

---------------------------------

Back at the mansion, Rogue was sitting next to a radio receiver, listening to the air. She heard Bobby come in behind her and lean against the doorframe.

"Anything yet?" he asked. Rogue shook her head with an air of disappointment. Bobby sighed and gave her a light hug.

"He will radio in, I know it."

"I'm starting to lose hope, Bobby. I just feel so helpless sitting here waiting for something to happen."

"We all do, baby."

"Its times like this that I wish had powers again, even my old ones. At least if y'all wanted to do somethin' you could. I'm just a lousy human."

"Did you forget how much you despised your power? You took the cure for you and no one else. If you wanted them back it should be for you and you alone."

Rogue sighed and was about to respond when they heard footsteps in the hallway pause in front of the door. The two of them turned towards the door and there was a girl there with long black hair, pale skin, and the two very creepy birthmarks that resembled blood and tears coming from the edges of her icy blue eyes. "I'm sorry to eavesdrop, but I couldn't help overhearing."

"That's okay, Tessa, come on in."

The girl moved with such precision that Bobby instantly recognized her. She was the one who gave Matthew his killer strategy in his first danger room training session. He hadn't seen her in forever; she hadn't come back after that first time. Rogue, however, saw her on an almost daily basis. She had the highest grade in their chemistry class, and from what Rogue heard, had the highest grade in the institute. The X-Men had known her as Sage, but Rogue knew her as Tessa. She was Rogue's lab partner and study buddy.

"Why do you two look so down?" she asked.

"We are hoping to hear from Matthew and Kitty. She went missing and he went looking for her," said Rogue.

"Rogue was just wishing she could help."

Tessa smiled. "Do you really want to help?"

Rogue looked confused. "I took the cure, you know that. Even if I had my powers back, what help would I be?"

"What if I could make you better than before?" Tessa shot back.

This time Bobby spoke up. "Could you do that?"

Tessa pulled out a blackberry phone. "Give me a few minutes, and yeah I could."

"B-but how?" asked Rogue with a stutter. This news was unreal to her.

"My mutant ability," replied Tessa without looking up from the screen of the phone. "If I completely analyze a mutant's DNA, I can awaken dormant powers, or in the case of cured mutants, bring them back."

"Won't that take forever?" asked Bobby.

Tessa grinned and hit a few keys on the phone. "No, not really. I'm almost done as it is. Thank you cerebro." She hit a few more keys then put the phone away. She stood still for a moment, and then smiled. She waved Rogue over to her. "This could hurt a little, but it's worth it."

Rogue nodded. Tessa put a hand to Rogue's forehead and Rogue was blinded and she fell back onto her bed. After a few seconds, Rogue sat up and looked at herself. "I don't feel any different," she said.

"That's because the main thing I gave you is control. Your powers are back and stronger than ever, but your mind unconsciously keeps them in check until you want to use them. You had this ability all along, but lacked the power to use it. As a bonus, I think you may be able to use the powers of mutants that you have absorbed in the past."

Rogue smiled and grabbed Bobby's hand. She felt nothing. Her powers didn't activate on their own anymore. She was overjoyed and jumped onto Bobby, kissing him. She had just been given the best of both worlds. "Thank you so much, Tessa. I can't thank you enough. I had felt like a part of me was missing, no matter how much I had despised it to begin with."

"You're welcome, Rogue."

"Can you do me next?" asked Bobby.

Tessa laughed. "You really want me to? From what I can tell your powers are nearly at their peak already."

Bobby sighed. "I guess so. Maybe I will just finish my progress on my own."

"So what are you two going to do now?" asked Tessa.

Rogue looked up, thought for a moment, then held out her hand, sending her metal nail file flying to her hand. Tessa was right. She had limited use of Magneto's power. That could only mean that she had Logan's healing ability and some of John and Bobby's power too. "We're gonna go get our friends back." She got off of Bobby and reached into her closet, pulling out the X-Men leathers. Bobby smiled.

"Have fun, you two. Let me know how it goes." Tessa calmly walked out of the room.

Once she was gone, Rogue shut the door and stripped down to her underwear, much to Bobby's delight. She winked at him and he covered his eyes, but moved his fingers apart so he could still see her remove the rest of her clothing and pull on the skin tight leathers. He put his hands down once she zipped it up.

"I had forgotten how sexy you look in that thing," said Bobby, wrapping his arms around her and giving her a kiss.

"Let's go get yours next. Then we can find the others. We're going to need some help if we plan on getting Matt and Kitty back."

----------------------------------

At some point Kitty must have fallen asleep again because when she woke up, she heard Matthew's voice. He was out of that chamber thing. He sounded different though, like something else was speaking and using his voice. She stood up and looked through her little window. Apocalypse and his horsemen were discussing something in low voices. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but she could have sworn she heard the word Westchester. She gasped when she saw Matthew. He barely looked human anymore. His black hair had turned white, and the normal blue-white glow of his eyes was different. The shine on the cornea was gone, it had moved into his iris. It looked as though someone had put lights behind his eyes, making them a glowing blue. The lights moved as his eyes moved. His entire body was rapidly fading out of existence and coming back, like a television station that wasn't tuned properly. As he heard her gasp, he looked right into her eyes, but there was not his usual loving stare behind those eyes. It was cold and as icy as the shade of blue they had become. Then before she could comprehend it he vanished and reappeared in front of her. He looked back at Apocalypse, who nodded.

"Time to go home, Kitty," he said with a laugh. He reached through the adamantium door and grabbed her arm. She felt strange as a phasing power much stronger than her own activated and he pulled her through. He forcefully walked her over to the wall over the tower and phased her through. While on the observation deck outside, Kitty screamed over the wind whipping at her body "Matt, you don't have to do this!"

The thing that was Matt stared at her again, like what she said didn't make any sense. The last rays of hope left Kitty's eyes. Her Matthew was gone, replaced by War. "The name is Spectre…and yes I do." He laughed as he pushed her over the edge.

As Kitty was falling, she contemplated not phasing to avoid hitting the ground. Matthew was gone. She turned in the air to face the ground; it was still a long way down. She went spread eagle to slow her descent and struggled to keep her eyes open against the wind. She would survive this, but it was still going to hurt.

At the top of the tower, Spectre walked back through the wall and nodded to Mikhail. He closed his eyes and opened a portal back to the mansion.

Outside, Kitty saw the portal open and could only hope it was a safe destination as she fell right through it, landing right onto her bed, shattering the springs and breaking the wooden legs, as well as alerting the entire hall to her presence. She sat up and brushed herself off, then broke down into tears.

**A/N: sorry I was so long in between updates… but there were other things on my mind. **

**Little Lt…if you're still reading this, and I hope you are, there is a part of this chapter that is a mirror of our real life situation. See if you can figure it out..i will give you a hint: it's the goodbye. Though this is how I originally had it planned, what Matthew says is pretty much what I wish I could have said as a real goodbye. You will be missed.**


	18. Echoes

Disclaimer: X-Men is a trademark of Marvel comics. I do not claim to own any of the characters or settings used below. However, the original characters Andrew and Sheila Tyson, Jerry Murdock and Matthew Tyson as well as the plot belong to me.

Chapter 17: Echoes

**_Cerebro Program 2.0 loading… _**

**_Load complete. Please enter search criteria: _**

**_"Horsemen of Apocalypse" accepted. Four mutants found: Death, War, Famine and Pestilence. Current Location: New York City. Press enter for detailed description. _**

****

**_Name: Death (formerly Warren Worthington III) _**

**_Mutant Name: " Archangel" _**

**_Height: 6'0" _**

**_Weight: 150 lbs. _**

**_Hair color: none _**

**_Eye color: Blue _**

**_Mutant Class: Omega (_A/n: omega is almost class 5) **

**_Powers: Flight (up to mach 3), super speed (in the air) and strength _**

**_Special attributes: blue skin with red tattoos _**

****

**_Name: War (formerly Matthew Tyson) _**

**_Mutant Name: "Spectre" _**

**_Height: 5'9" _**

**_Weight: 160 lbs. _**

**_Hair color: White _**

**_Eye color: Blue _**

**_Mutant Class: Omega _**

**_Powers: Extremely advanced telekinesis, invisibility and extreme intangibility (Developed to the point where he can phase through the fabric of space-time quickly so it appears that he teleports) _**

**_Special Attributes: Night vision _**

****

**_Name: Famine (formerly Remy LeBeau) _**

**_Mutant Name: "Shadow" _**

**_Height: 6'1" _**

**_Weight: 179 lbs. _**

**_Hair color: Brown _**

**_Eye color: Red _**

**_Mutant Class: Omega _**

**_Powers: The ability to turn potential energy into kinetic energy, even without physical contact. Energy levels far surpass what they once were. _**

**_Special Attributes: Extremely high levels of agility and dexterity _**

****

**_Name: Pestilence (formerly Mikhail Rasputin) _**

**_Mutant Name: none _**

**_Height: 6'0" _**

**_Weight: 200 lbs. _**

**_Hair Color: Black _**

**_Eye Color: Black _**

**_Mutant Class: Omega _**

**_Powers: Inter-dimensional portals and super strength _**

**_Special Attributes: Weapons and stealth expert _**

****

**_Press enter for another search or esc to exit. _**

****

Xavier pressed a button and the computer screen went dark. Kitty's updated program was working better than he could have ever imagined. Not only did it give the location but it gave detailed descriptions of the mutant being searched. It had been several weeks since Kitty appeared mysteriously back in her room with her bed broken and Matthew gone. She was inconsolable except to get a new bed put in her room. She spent hours at the computer reprogramming her cerebro program to keep the X-Men updated on the whereabouts of the horsemen. It was practically irrelevant since they were all the world news could talk about or report on. Xavier heard footsteps outside the office. It was Logan. He burst through the door with a panicked look on his face.

"Apocalypse has finally left a message to the world. It's all the televisions will play. It's scaring the kids."

"Turn the televisions off. No more contact with the outside world for today. Kitty's program will keep us updated. We will not be blind in this situation."

"Alright. I don't know how we are going to get everyone back under control though. Bobby and John are trying to keep everyone distracted by sparring. They are providing a nice distraction."

Xavier sighed. He sent a stern school-wide mental message for everyone to settle down, then waited for Logan to kill power to all of the televisions. He turned Kitty's program back on and typed in the search query, watching as the streaming information updated by the second.

----------------------------------

Bobby panted; his breath fogging as it passed his iced covered lips. The lawn outside was pockmarked with small fires and patches of ice. John stood about thirty feet away from Bobby, panting as well, a light sweat on his brow as the flames that engulfed him kept his body temperature high. There was a small crowd of younger students watching in awe—most of them had never seen mutants of this caliber go head to head without actually trying to kill one another.

"Had enough yet, popsicle?" asked John.

"You wish, Inferno."

There was a small cheer from the crowd as the two mutants launched another salvo at one another. Logan opened the door to the front lawn and watched as the two elemental mutants went head to head, causing the external temperature to jump and fall more than when Storm was having mood swings. Fire blasts scorched the air and ice crystals shot up through the ground. Bobby was getting better, using his ice to increase his agility. He slid around in the air on an ice slide, using his other hand to fire ice beams at John. John kept things even though, giving life to his fire and making it chase Bobby. The kids were laughing and rooting on their favorites, and Logan couldn't help but smile. In the midst of all this tragedy these two reunited best friends had found a way to keep the kids' minds off of everything. Logan shook his head and walked back in the house. There were a few children with their eyes glued to the television where Apocalypse's message was once again repeating. Logan walked in the living room just as the message started and leaned against the doorframe. The gray mutant stared right into the camera with his four horsemen looking quite menacing behind him.

"People and mutants of the world, my name is Apocalypse. I have your most powerful city under my control, and more will fall soon. This does not have to be a violent transition; surrender and I assure the end will be painless for you. Stand in my way however, and I will make sure that either my horsemen or myself provide you with a slow, painful death. Only the strong will survive. My Legacy cannot be hindered. Have a nice day."

Apocalypse chuckled and backed away from the camera, and the horseman that was once Matthew stepped forward. He winked at the camera and snapped his fingers, and the feed shut off. Logan walked forward and shut off the television. "That is enough for today, kids. Go play or something. The world isn't coming to an end yet."

The kids sighed and went outside to watch the elementals fight. Logan slumped down onto the couch and scratched his head. There were footsteps behind him and as Logan turned to see who it was, his face turned from frustration to surprise. Standing in front of him was a rare sight these days: Kitty. Her eyes were red and her cheeks were shiny, like she had just gotten done crying.

"Hi, Logan," she said weakly.

"Hey there, kid. How ya doing?" he replied, already knowing the answer.

Kitty forced a smile. "Better than normal. I just saw Matt on TV, but I only cried a little bit."

Logan chuckled. "That's better than normal? I would hate to see you on a bad day."

Kitty's smile was a bit more genuine this time. "You always did know how to make me smile, Logan."

Logan patted the seat next to him. Without a word, Kitty sat down. "Listen, kid, I know you miss Matthew, but you have to accept that fact that he may not be coming back. He is not the same person anymore. The Matthew you knew…" Logan's voice trailed off as another voice entered her thoughts. This voice was not her own, or even the Professor's, but it was familiar.

_Kitty can you hear me? _

_Who is this? _

_It's Jerry. Listen, you have to alert the others. The horsemen are planning an attack on the mansion. _

_Wh-what? When? _

_I don't know exactly. All I know is I saw the mansion in ruins. _

_Thanks Jerry. I miss having you around. _

_You and me both, Kitty. Hope to see you soon. _

"…you are going to be okay, right Kitty?"

"Hmm? Oh yeah, I should be fine," replied Kitty, attempting to continue Logan's conversation.

"You went out of things there for a minute, Kitty."

"Jerry just spoke to me. He says something horrible is going to happen to the mansion and we need to evacuate."

Logan jumped up off of the couch, almost knocking Kitty over. "I will go warn the Professor. Get the kids inside and downstairs. I want everyone where they can see and hear us."

Kitty nodded and ran outside. Logan scrambled down the hallway to the Professor's office.

"Professor, something horrible is going to happen to the mansion."

"I know. Please take a seat."

--------------------------------------------

High above the streets of New York, Spectre stood out on the tower's balcony, looking out on the city as the sun was setting, giving the empty streets a golden glow. The high altitude wind blew through his hair, but did not phase him as his body allowed the air to pass through it. He leaned against the handrail and lost himself to his thoughts. Before he knew it Shadow was at his side.

"You alrigh', mon ami?"

Spectre sighed. "Yeah, I was just thinking."

"You ponderin' that chere again?"

"For some reason part of me refuses to forget her. I have to rid myself of this weakness."

Shadow rolled his eyes. "Come on in, Apocalypse has missions for us."

Without another word, Spectre turned around and walked back inside. Mikhail and Archangel were waiting on them; Archangel had his arms crossed and was tapping his foot.

"You need to stop being so emotional, War. Forget about who you were."

"Easier said than done, Death."

"Yes it is, seeing as all you have to do, is forget!" and Archangel took a swing up at Spectre, who didn't move as Archangel's fist passed through his body. Spectre stared him down.

"You know you can't touch me, Death. What goes on in my head is my business alone, not yours. So back off!" and he used his powers to shove Archangel back. He stumbled after sliding several feet.

"You two stop your bickering," said a booming voice from the side.

"Yes sir, Lord Apocalypse," the two said in unison.

"That's better. Now, I have a mission for the four of you. Three of you will be paying that cripple Xavier a visit. There is something I need from that mansion and I need you to get it for me. Spectre, you will be running a solo errand for me that I will explain to you later. For now, you may go, as I need to explain in further detail the task at hand."

Spectre sighed and walked away, phasing through the wall back onto the balcony. The sun was almost gone, and the stars were winking one by one into the darker than normal New York sky. For a brief moment Spectre smiled, because some part of him knew she was looking up at these too.

**A/n: ok sorry for the long update time, I took the summer off because I had to ace my summer classes. But I'm back and better than ever. This chapter is a little shorter than some others, but I already have a good bit of 18 written out. Expect another update soon. **


	19. Divide and Conquer

Disclaimer: X-Men is a trademark of Marvel comics. I do not claim to own any of the characters or settings used below. However, the original characters Andrew and Sheila Tyson, Jerry Murdock and Matthew Tyson as well as the plot belong to me.

Chapter 18: Divide and Conquer

The afternoon sun beat down on the sands of Nevada. The sea of dunes was entirely peaceful aside form the occasional breeze. That breeze blew tumbleweed across a lonely paved road where it caught on a black mailbox. The deep bass notes of tires and treads on the pavement caused the mailbox to rattle and the tumbleweed to shake free. Moments later several heavily armed military jeeps blew by the mailbox without a second thought. Tanks followed them, and a squadron of Blackhawk transport helicopters and Apache gun-ships whipped the dunes into a sandstorm as they followed the jeeps to intercept their target. One Blackhawk that carried the commanding officer of the battalion as the pilot radioed back in to the Groom Lake Facility.

"HQ, this is Blackhawk Alpha, encryption code 32—Charlie—X-Ray. Come in, over?"

"We read you, Alpha. Status report?"

"The battalion is closing in on the horsemen. Current velocity and heading puts our ETA at two minutes."

"Very good Alpha. Do not open fire on the suspects until ordered to do so. That is an order from the president."

"Yes sir. Alpha over and out."

The pilot turned to the CO as he flipped off his radio. "Sir, we have a contact on the radar. Its small…the signature indicates a single person."

The Commanding Officer leaned forward with a concerned look on his face. "Impossible. There are supposed to be four of them. How did one person make it in and out of The Facility completely undetected?"

"I don't know, sir, but he stopped running. Should be coming into sight…now."

The helicopter roared over a giant dune, quickly followed by the jeeps, tanks, Blackhawk choppers and Apache gun-ships. The troops quickly encircled the person standing in the dunes as they poured out of the helicopters. There were many clicks as the primer bars on assault rifles and humming as the chain guns on the jeeps and choppers warmed up. The Commanding Officer stepped out of his Blackhawk and chuckled to himself. He was just a boy, no older than fifteen. Dressed in a black leather jacket, faded blue jeans, boots, sunglasses and a backwards turned Georgia Bulldogs baseball cap, he stood in the sand as though the heat of the Nevada desert didn't affect him at all. The boy ignored the thick circle of troops and stared at the CO as he approached the boy. As he got closer and broke the front line, the temperature dropped dramatically and his breath fogged. The boy smirked at the confused look on the CO's face.

"Commander Edward Marcell, they sent _you_ after me? I must really be a threat. Tell me, do your friends still call you 'Big Eddie?'" he asked in a barely human voice.

"Horseman of Apocalypse, deactivate your powers and put your hands on your head."

"Not much of a talker, huh?" the boy chuckled as he put his hand on his head. The air remained cold though and there were several dull thumps inside the tanks.

Marcell turned a bit red in the face. "Deactivate your powers Horseman, this is your last warning." He pulled his sidearm and aimed it at the boy's head.

"You won't shoot me because I have this," he said as he pulled a small vial from his jacket pocket, "If you shoot me then I break this, and we all will die. And if the wind catches it then it could hit a major city within the hour. You really want to be the cause of a nationwide epidemic?"

Marcell lowered his pistol. "Give me the vial and no one has to die. From what I hear federal prison is quite nice. I can ensure that you don't get the death penalty if you cooperate."

The boy put the vial back in his pocket and began walking slowly towards the Commander. There was a pair of dry clicks as the assault shotguns belonging to the Commander's bodyguards cocked. "Stand down, mutant."

The boy laughed and put his cap on the Commander's head, revealing spiky white hair. Commander Marcell's eyes widened. It was the telekinetic, the Horseman of War. "I do believe it is you who should stand down," he replied with a smirk.

There was a humming as the tanks changed their targets to the gun-ships and opened fire. The choppers exploded and hit the ground in a ball of fire, the shockwave knocking the troops off balance. Once back on their feet, they looked where the boy was only to see air. He was nowhere to be found, but the tanks were running and moving of their own accord, undoubtedly under the boy's control. Marcell flipped on his field radio, transmitting back to The Facility. "HQ, this is Commander Edward Marcell. Horseman is hostile, repeat, hostile. Permission to engage?"

"Fire at will Commander, but do not break that vial. Our national security depends on this."

"Sir, yes sir. Marcell, over and out." He put away the field radio and turned to address his battalion. "We have a very dangerous mutant on the loose and deadly force has been authorized. Since he is carrying precious cargo, I am ordering everyone to switch to cure rounds. Spread out and check the sand for footprints. He might be able to vanish but I don't think he can fly."

_Oh how stupid you are, Commander… _came a voice from nowhere. It didn't sound like the boy, but something else entirely. Like a ghost.

"Who said that?" Marcell demanded.

There was powerful disembodied laughter that shook them to the core as a fog bank rolled in and the air temperature plummeted. The tanks swiveled around and opened fire on the jeeps then used their guns to mow down the troops. Hundreds of men fell in a matter of seconds, leaving only a platoon of men and the Commander. The laughter rang out again as the men shivered in the temperature and out of fear. Suddenly the laughter stopped, the fog vanished and the tanks rumbled to a stop. The men scrambled and ran for the tanks only to hit an invisible wall a few feet from the tanks. The men lay on their backs, writhing in pain. Marcell detected movement to his left and drew his sidearm. The boy stood there laughing, his arms crossed across his chest.

"Now that was funny. Don't you think so, Commander?"

"Stand down, War. These are cure rounds. Surrender the vial or lose your power."

The boy smirked. "Go ahead, pull the trigger. The cure doesn't scare me."

A scowl crossed Marcell's face. He had had enough of this boy's arrogance. He squeezed the trigger and as the bullet left the chamber the boy was gone. His voice was in the Commander's ear within seconds. He was standing behind him.

"I will take my hat back now, Commander. You're a good shot, I might just let you live."

Marcell screamed and emptied the pistol's magazine where the boy should be. He shot nothing but air, and the boy's hat vanished from his head. He scrambled for his magazine of normal bullets. He had had enough of these games. He saw an assault rifle vanish from the sand, meaning the boy had it in his possession. Marcell scanned the area, looking for any sign of the boy. The only evidence of his presence still remaining were the wet cracks of bone as one by one the necks of his men snapped. Seconds later, Marcell was all alone in the Nevada desert amongst a mass grave of what used to be a battalion of his best men. He broke down into tears and remained that way for a few moments until movement caught his eye and he raised his sidearm. Amidst the bright sands of the desert, the dark void spinning inches above the ground stood out like a man with two heads. The boy appeared in front of it, the assault rifle strapped over his shoulder. He looked back and winked at the Commander, then was gone. Marcell dropped to his knees, looked at the carnage all around him, and screamed at the top of his lungs. Only the wind answered him.

-------------------------------

2,000 miles away, in the woods of Westchester, New York, Professor Xavier winced as the men died in Nevada. Such carnage could only be the work of a Horseman. His footsteps crackled the leaves as he walked amongst the throngs of students. They had taken to the woods after hearing Jerry's premonition about the damage to the mansion. He left only the X-men behind, to safeguard the mansion's secrets in case the premonition proved to be false. Kurt had returned to the mansion as well on his request, and was with them to provide a quick escape. Of course Xavier was mentally keeping an eye on all of them, but the human side of him still feared for their safety.

A small mutant with green hair and snake eyes noticed the look on Xavier's face and walked over to him. "Are you alright, sir?"

Xavier smiled. "Yes, my boy. Things are going to be just fine."

_If only I honestly knew that to be true…_

**A/N: I know in the last chapter that I said the update wouldn't take very long. Sorry about that. This semester has been ridiculously busy. I should be writing more over Christmas break, but I have finals next week so it may be a little while until the next update. Sorry again about the short chapter.**


End file.
